Oran baseball team is optimistic about next year

~ Oran only started three seniors at the Class 1 final four

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Oran baseball players just had finished receiving their Class 1 third-place medals Thursday afternoon when coach Mitch Wood gathered them together.

It wasn't long before "next year" came up.

"That's just kind of Oran," junior Kody Moore said. "You don't win first, you're ready for next year because everybody's attempted to do it and about everybody's had a chance to do it. It's no secret, we're looking for that first title, and I know we want to get it."

Wood also told the players after their 9-4 win against Sturgeon that they needed to turn in their uniforms before leaving Meador Park.

All but three members of the team -- starters Dalton Elfrink, Blake Carlyle and Adam Schaefer -- will be eligible to get theirs back next year.

The rest of the Eagles regular lineup included two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman.

Oran won seven of its first eight games this season, but poor play by his program's standards had Wood wondering if it was time to prepare his young team for the future instead of a return trip to the final four.

"I was like, ‘This is tough.'" Wood said following Thursday's game. "We basically wanted to start -- we started talking about rebuilding and doing certain things for being ready for, honestly, the next few years.

"They just kept winning and started playing well."

The Eagles won 15 games and lost eight before the start of the playoffs, where they won five more times and lost once. The loss came Wednesday in the state semifinals.

Freshman left fielder Jacob Priggel provided one of the highlights in Oran's semifinal loss.

He threw out a Santa Fe runner at the plate in the fourth inning to preserve what was then a 2-1 Oran lead.

"I didn't think he was going to send him at first," Priggel said. "I looked up, and they were saying ‘Four,' so I just picked it up and basically just threw it and tried to get him out."

Priggel was 1 for 2 with an RBI and two walks out of the No. 6 spot in the Oran lineup in Thursday's win. He hit .333 with 14 RBIs through 24 games this season.

It was the first trip to the final four for Priggel, who said he'd never been to watch Oran play in the past.

"It was pretty intense," he said. "I liked being here. I enjoyed being here, and I was looking forward to it. I really wanted to win that first game. It's something the school's never done before. We didn't get a chance to do that but still had fun up here."

Sophomore Bear Hicks was a member of last year's final four team, but he went from an observer to the team's starting first baseman after a late-season injury to junior Trenton Hency.

"I got nervous before the game," Hicks said when asked what the biggest difference was for him this season. "Like yesterday, I got nervous. I tried not to think about it and think about something else."

Hicks was 1 for 2 and scored twice in the third-place game.

"It helped me a little bit to see for next year, when we come back," he said

It didn't really matter what question was posed to Oran underclassmen after Thursday's game, the answer almost always had something to do with "next year."

"It feels really good to end with a win," Priggel said after being asked about his team's third-place win. "Look forward to it again next year, too.

"We're pretty young. We have a lot of improving to do, but by next year we'll be pretty stout again."

While Moore played in his second final four, his mindset was pretty much the same.

"This is the best experience you can possibly get for next season," Moore said. "There ain't no bigger stage. Now that this year's done, I'm really looking forward to next year."