Oak Ridge softball team sees offense sprout amid rain

~ The Blue jays splurged for nine runs before play was suspended

The Oak Ridge softball team, which had been no-hit in its only other game this season, had no trouble at the plate Thursday against Greenville, in a game that was suspended due to inclement weather.

The Blue Jays scored nine runs on six hits and held a 9-6 lead in the bottom of the third inning until the umpires and coaches from both teams agreed to suspend play and reschedule the game for a later date.

"I think it's a process of getting outside and getting some live at-bats," Oak Ridge coach Adam Stoneking said about his team's improvement on offense following its 18-1 loss to Delta on Monday. "We've been stuck inside practicing for the last two weeks with all the rain and bad weather, so hitting off of a machine gets a little boring and tedious, but we've had a stretch of a few good games and today I saw a few well hit line drives from our girls."

Greenville senior Haley White led off with a triple in the first inning for the Bears and scored on a wild pitch. The Bears got one more run in the inning off of an RBI single from Kaley Hillis.

Oak Ridge pitcher Candace Seyer throws to a Greenville batter during the third inning Thursday at Oak Ridge High School. Play was suspended later in the inning due to rain. (Adam Vogler)

Oak Ridge scored a run in the bottom half of the inning when starting pitcher Candace Seyer singled in Chelsea Seyer.

The rain messed with the control of both pitchers throughout the short-lived game.

In the second, Seyer hit four batters. Seyer also threw three wild pitches in the four-run inning that gave Greenville a 6-1 lead.

"This is [Seyer]'s first year pitching with the varsity team and we like how hard she throws," Stoneking said. "It just took her awhile to get warmed up and the rain messed with her eyes a little bit, but I think once she got that under control, she threw strikes and we started to get batters out."

Seyer settled down in the third inning by striking out the side and finished the game with seven strikeouts and six earned runs in three innings.

Meanwhile, Greenville starting pitcher Emily Duncan walked four consecutive batters in the second inning and gave up a two-run single to Kelly Hahs. The Blue Jays scored six runs in the inning to take a 7-6 lead.

"It's exciting to see our bats back up our pitching," Stoneking said. "Especially now since this season means something and we actually have something to compete for."

A vote last May on the Missouri State High School Activities Association spring ballot created several amendments to the organization's constitution, with the installment of a spring softball state championship among the changes. Previously, only a fall championship existed.

Oak Ridge is one of 81 schools with spring softball now. Like the other teams, the Blue Jays will be competing for a district, with a state title as the grand prize.

In his second year as coach, Stoneking said his team is young, but the players who have returned from last year have a lot of potential and want to prove something.

"The season and our team is coming along," Stoneking said. "It's a big change for me, coming from basketball where you're always going toward something, and then I came here and there was nothing to compete for at the end of the year. So now we have something to really get after in practice and in games to really make those girls work harder, and I know they're really excited about it, too."