Crusaders crush Blue Jays 8-3

Saxony Lutheran rebounded from back-to-back losses with an 8-3 victory over Oak Ridge on Wednesday at Saxony Lutheran High School.

First baseman Aaron Eubanks led the Crusaders at the plate by going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

“He’s a great hitter,” Saxony Lutheran head coach Paul Sander said. “He’s got a hit for us in the last three or four games. He has made a big difference in our club when he’s hot. I just hope he stays hot.”

The Crusaders collected nine hits throughout the game, with Braydon Moore being the only other batter to knock in multiple base hits. The Crusaders scored only one run in each of their previous two games after scoring 10 runs in their most recent home game before Wednesday.

“So far this year, we haven’t hit the ball very well,” Sander said. “We’re trying to get out of that funk of not hitting the ball real well, and even though we lost yesterday, we did have better swings yesterday and today we had little better swings than yesterday. So we are headed in the right direction.”

Saxony Lutheran took advantage of an error and scored two runs in the first inning. The Crusaders scored at least one run in each inning through the first five innings.

Owen Tarry saw success on the mound and at the plate for the Crusaders. He hit a double and threw for 6.2 innings allowing three runs on six hits with six strikeouts.

“He’s a control pitcher,” Sander said, “and he only hit one batter today, didn’t walk anybody, so that’s what he has to do to be successful. He’s not tremendously overpowering, but he spots his pitches good, throws his curveball in certain situations, and keeps people off balance. We thought he had a nice outing. He was out of pitches there for the last batter, but he had a real nice game, and he did a great job.”

David Weinhold entered the mound to get the final out in relief for the Crusaders.

Cohen Hahs started the game for Oak Ridge, allowing six hits and five runs over three innings with five strikeouts. The Blue Jays tallied six hits, led by multiple knocks from Noah Crowden and Ahren Fodge.

The Crusaders continue their long stretch of consecutive games with a trip to Leopold on Thursday. They are making up for having much of the early part of their season rained out.

“We deserve to play the games for the kids,” Sander said. “We got rained out our first five games of the year, so I’m on the telephone just trying to get as many games in a week as I can. We’ll play four this week, four next week, five the week after, and we’ll pitch whoever we have available, and we’ll help straighten ourselves out to play and we’ll get in a good rhythm. The more you play, the more good rhythm you get into. If you run short on pitching, we’ll just do the best we can.”

Saxony will host Cruthersville at Capaha Field on Friday at 4:30 p.m.