Blue Jays hold on to win tourney title

OAK RIDGE -- A six-run fourth inning paid off handsomely for the Oak Ridge baseball team, which claimed the championship in its own Oak Ridge Baseball Invitational with a 10-8 victory over Saxony Lutheran Saturday afternoon.

Senior Hunter Seyer had a pair of two-run singles as the Blue Jays (5-3) built a 10-3 lead after four innings, then held off a determined Saxony Lutheran rally.

"We got off to a good start," said Oak Ridge coach Bo Akers. "We've been doing that the last few games."

It was needed Saturday. Seyer had a two-run single and Lance Rohde drove in another run with a single as the Blue Jays jumped to a 3-0 lead after one inning.

Saxony clawed back within 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but Seyer and Jacob Seabaugh had two-run singles as the Blue Jays plated six runs to push their lead to 10-3.

"That felt good," Seyer said. "We've been hitting the ball, but it feels especially good in a championship game."

Still, the Crusaders (5-5) refused to fold. In the top of the fifth, Ethan Mirly plated one run with a single, and a double by Jack Lake scored another, part of a three-run inning that made it 10-6. Two more runs in the top of the sixth pulled Saxony within 10-8.

Meanwhile, Oak Ridge missed a chance to pad its lead by loading the bases with none out in the fifth but failing to score.

"The two innings we had the bases loaded and couldn't get a run across ... as a coach, you don't want to leave runs on the bases," Akers said.

"Timely hitting is big," Seyer said. "We left a couple guys out there."

Kelby Brown relieved Rohde, Oak Ridge's starter, to start the top of the seventh and the righthander responded by striking out the final two batters to earn the save.

Mistakes hurt the Crusaders as Saxony committed eight errors to two for Oak Ridge.

"Today, errors just got to us," Saxony coach Paul Sander said. "We committed way too many errors to compete in a championship game. Our defense let us down tonight."

Saxony Lutheran 002 132 0 -- 8 7 8

Oak Ridge 310 600 x 10 10 2

WP: Lance Rohde. LP: Chase Steffens. S: Kelby Brown. 2B: Jack Lake (S), Rohde (O). Multiple hits: Saxony -- Paris Johnson 204, Ethan Mirly 2-3, Jack Lake 2-4. Oak Ridge -- Hunter Seyer 2-4, Rohde 2-3, Brown 2-2.