Oak Ridge, Delta looks to rebound after losses

The Oak Ridge Blue Jays had victory snatched from underneath them, falling late at home to Jefferson R-7 4-3 on Thursday to open the Oak Ridge Baseball Invitational.

“We played hard, made a few mistakes that ultimately cost us,” Oak Ridge coach Robert Friese said. “Ultimately what it came down to is a few plays we didn't make that hurt.”

Oak Ridge entered the fourth inning down a run but took a 2-1 lead off a sacrifice fly by Kayden Borgfield and an RBI single by Camren Volz.

After Jefferson retook the lead in the fifth, Borgfield struck back and tied the game 3-3 on an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.

Overall, he went 1-for-2 with a walk and led the Blue Jays with two RBIs. Friese said it was a sign of Borgfield breaking out of his slump.

“Last three games, he's been hammering the ball with bad luck,” Friese said. “ He got the big hit there, to tie the game back up to 3-3 and a sac fly that tied it up 2-2. I mean, he's doing a lot of things right.”

Oak Ridge pitcher Tyler Bishop went the full six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.

“He's been steady,” Friese said. “When he's good, he is very good. He's tough to tough to deal with.”

Oak Ridge will face off with Delta on Friday at 3 p.m. The matchup was set up after Delta fell to Crystal City 11-3 on Thursday.

The Bobcats scored first on an RBI single by Bryce Cox. Austin Keys drove in two more runs on a base hit to complete a 3-run first inning for Delta.

After tacking on a run in the bottom of the first inning, Crystal City scored four runs in the second inning to create an insurmountable lead, then added six more in the fourth inning.

Carter Scherer started the game on the mound for Delta and went 1.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits, striking out two, and walking one. Cox and Paxton Hornbuckle finished the game from the bullpen.

The winner between Delta and Oak Ridge will advance to the consolation title game.

“Any time Oak Ridge and Delta hook up, records don’t matter, anything like that, it’s always gonna be a hard-fought game,” Friese said. “They'll say that the schools dislike each other. It's just good rivalry between two Class 1 high schools in the same conference.”