EAGLES FLY TO STATE; ORAN ROUTS VAN BUREN 12-2 IN 1A GAME

ORAN -- The return road to the 1A Final Four has been relatively easy for the Oran Eagles baseball team.

Saturday afternoon, state-ranked Oran eliminated the Van Buren Bulldogs 12-2 in five innings to advance into Wednesday's semifinals in Columbia.

Oran (21-5), last year's 1A runner-up and currently ranked No. 4 in 1A, will face Marion C. Early at 5 p.m.

Marion (20-4) defeated Jasper 13-5 in Saturday's other quarterfinal action.

Except for a 2-1 victory over the Advance Hornets in the 1A District 2 championship game, the Eagles have rolled through the playoffs.

Since district play opened, Oran has outscored its opponents 59-7 in five games. They've also needed just 28 innings.

Oran coach Mitch Wood just hopes his squad keeps it up.

"We want a state championship, no doubt," said Wood. "This is where we want to be (headed to Columbia), two games away from our main goal. We have a second shot at the state championship and we don't want to come home without it, but we can't play like we did (defensively) today and expect to."

Against Van Buren, which finished its season at 17-7, everyone in the Eagle lineup scored at least once.

Oran used a four-run first inning to take control and a seven-run fourth to put the run rule in effect.

With ace Tommy Chilton unavailable after pitching eight innings in Thursday's sectional win over Eminence, Van Buren had to rely on junior Jerrod Roberts.

Roberts struggled finding the strike zone and took the loss. He walked eight, struck out seven, allowed six and 10 earned runs.

Oran starter Dustin Dannenmueller went the distance in improving to 9-2 on the season. Dannenmueller walked four, allowed five hits and struck out five, including the final batter of the game to seal the win.

After Oran took a quick 4-0 lead in the first, the Bulldogs looked to make a game of it, loading the bases in the third and scoring two runs.

Shortstop Adam Friga made two good plays in the inning to avoid any further damage.

"I was really pleased with the boys getting here," said Van Buren head coach Don Mabry. "We were surprised we got this far. Today we just didn't get the breaks that we had been getting."

"We usually get ourselves in a hole, but this time we couldn't get out of it. I thought we might there in the third, but Oran's just that good."

The Eagles got one run back in the bottom of the third when catcher Philip Seyer hit his team-leading fifth home run of the year for a 5-2 lead.

Oran chased Roberts in the seven-run fourth. With three Bulldog pitchers occupying the mound in the inning, the Eagles were the beneficiary of six walks and added three singles.

Roberts obtained two outs in the inning before giving way to his younger brother Justin, who was unable to retire a batter, walking two and allowing a hit. Chilton came on and allowed a single, but Van Buren finally ended the inning when an Eagle player was cut down on the basepaths.

Seyer finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Right fielder Travis Friga also went 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

"We hit the ball today for sure and our defense was on again like it has been," said Wood. "It's nice seeing that after we had to replace four starters this season, but today we had our times."