Oak Ridge tops Leopold

OAK RIDGE -- Oak Ridge's Jace Dye has struggled offensively this season.

Dye has batted just .190 in the Blue Jays' first 10 games after hitting .380 last year as a sophomore.

But the junior started to break out of his slump Wednesday against Leopold.

Dye went 2-for-3, including a two-out two-run single in the sixth inning to help cap off a three-run rally and lead his team to an 8-6 comeback home win.

"I've been striking out a lot," Dye said. "I stepped it up in my at-bats today, and I'm real happy I did."

Oak Ridge improved to 9-2, reaching the nine-win plateau for the first time in three years. Leopold dropped to 5-5.

"Big win today," Dye said. "This was a fun win because we haven't beaten Leopold since I started playing high school baseball."

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Leopold shortstop Ryan Davis waited to tag out Oak Ridge baserunner Ethan Sachs during Wednesday's game in Oak Ridge.

Dye is not the only struggling Oak Ridge player to get a big hit Wednesday.

Sophomore Logan Mangels, who is hitting .211 and went without a hit in five straight games before Wednesday, stroked a two-out RBI single to help aid a three-run rally in the fifth inning.

Dye had been hitting out of the No. 3 spot in the Oak Ridge batting order, but has been moved to the No. 5 spot, where he batted against Leopold. Mangels hits sixth.

"It's hard to lose when your five and six batters are hitting the ball like that," Oak Ridge freshman Brett Thomas said. "It all about their confidence. Jace is a great hitter. ... He just got down on himself the last couple games, but this should spark it. ... Logan, he just needs confidence. The more he hits, the better he's going to get."

Leopold's Wade Wiseman slapped an RBI single to right field during Wednesday's loss at Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge coach Jason Niswonger said Dye needs to think less about each at-bat, and Mangels needs to be more aggressive.

"He's not nearly aggressive enough," Niswonger said of Mangels. "A lot of guys I want to take a pitch or two. But he's smart enough to where I want him to be more aggressive and I want him taking first-pitch swings if it's a strike. And I think he's getting better at that. ... Jace should be hitting the ball that hard [as he did Wednesday]. He's trying too hard maybe. The more he struggles, I think the more he tries to break out of it, and he's overswinging possibly."

Leopold scored four unearned runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. The Blue Jays got two in the third to cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Wildcats held on to the 4-2 lead until the fifth inning when Oak Ridge scored three runs.

Leopold pitcher Cody Van De Ven threw out Oak Ridge baserunner Brett Thomas during Wednesday's game in Oak Ridge.

Two scored on a single by Ethan Sachs to make it 4-4. Mangels later came up and knocked a single to center with two outs to give his team the 5-4 lead.

"I've just been missing the ball a lot," Mangels said. "I see the ball coming over the plate, but once I swing, I'm under it. ... It felt great. I was just thinking, 'Put it in play. You'll get on.' I'm just so glad I went up there and didn't think about it and helped us take the lead."

Oak Ridge did not have the lead for long though. Leopold scored two runs in the top of the sixth off relief pitcher Garret Light to regain the lead at 6-5.

But the Blue Jays staged yet another rally in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three times.

Thomas made it 6-6 with an RBI single that scored Lucas Rohde, who was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Light and Thomas later scored when Dye stroked a single to left to make it 8-6.

"There was a lot of pressure," Dye said about his at-bat. "I [thought about] keeping my eye on the ball and not worrying about the pressure."

Leopold coach Brandon Robinson said his team is playing well, but it must eliminate the big innings.

"We've got to have seven good innings," Robinson said. "We can't have that one bad inning. That right now is the difference of us winning and losing some game."

Leopold 040 002 0 -- 6 10 2

Oak Ridge 002 033 x -- 8 8 3

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:WP -- Garret Light, 3-1. LP -- Cody Van De Ven. 2B -- Light (OR), Brett Thomas (OR). Multiple hits -- Oak Ridge: Light 2-4, Thomas 2-4, Jace Dye 2-3; Leopold: Van De Ven 2-5, John Bohnsack 3-4, Wade Wiseman 2-4, Clayton Stoverink 2-4. Records -- Oak Ridge 9-2, Leopold 5-5.