EAGLES ONLY `HALFWAY' AWAY FROM FIRST CLASS 1A CROWN

COLUMBIA -- It appears safe to say that a big lead early in today's Class 1A championship game at Simmons Field between the Oran Eagles and Halfway Cardinals won't necessarily lead to victory.

Oran, ranked third in the state coaches poll with a 23-3 record, rallied from a 7-0 deficit Wednesday to beat No. 7 New Bloomfield 9-7 in the opening 1A semifinal. Halfway, ranked No. 1 since the start of the season with a 22-2 mark, nearly lost a 7-0 lead to Macks Creek before prevailing 7-6 in the other semifinal.

The title game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.

After battling through a case of the nerves in its first state semifinal appearance in 17 years, Oran survived to play for its first state baseball title. Halfway is coming off a fourth-place finish last year in its only state championship appearance.

Considering their miraculous comeback Wednesday, the Eagles are feeling pretty confident -- and fortunate -- entering the final.

"We've had real tough teams the last four or five years, but it seemed like we couldn't get the lucky breaks," said Oran senior Justin McAlister. "This year, everything's falling into place and ... along with having a pretty stout team, everything's looking good right now."

Although he struggled as the starting pitcher in Wednesday's semifinal, McAlister will take the hill again for Oran today. In just two innings of work, McAlister allowed five runs (four earned) and left the mound in the third inning with the bases loaded and no outs.

The thought of McAlister taking the mound in the championship game might sound frightening to Oran fans, but Eagles coach Mitch Wood has seen his senior right-hander bounce back from a bad outing before.

"All I can say is McAlister did the same thing in (this year's) sectionals and came back and threw one of the best games he's ever thrown in the quarterfinals," Wood said, referring to McAlister's complete-game 4-2 win at Eminence on Saturday after getting pulled in the second inning of Oran's 4-2 sectional win over Holcomb.

"Justin only pitched two innings (Thursday)," he said, "so hopefully he'll be ready again (today)."

Semifinal winner Dustin Glastetter, now 8-2 with an earned run average below 0.80, will be prepared for another relief appearance. McAlister comes into the game with an 8-0 record.

Halfway will start its No. 2 pitcher, senior right-hander Mark Timmerman, against the Eagles. Timmerman enters with an 8-1 mark and 2.87 ERA. Cardinals' ace Aaron Evans (11-1) went the distance in the semifinal victory over Macks Creek.

Evans, Halfway's top offensive threat with a .525 batting average, also had two hits Wednesday. Second baseman Mike Calhoun (.415) went 3-for-3. Five of Halfway's starters have batting averages over .400.