Oran baseball team reaches Class 1 championship game

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Oran baseball coach Mitch Wood wasn't outwardly jubilant, and even particularly happy, following his team's Class 1 semifinal Tuesday.

"We come up here to do a job," Wood said.

That job -- to win the school's first state championship -- isn't complete, but the Eagles are one step closer after a 5-1 victory over Sturgeon at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.

Oran (21-5) will face Santa Fe (13-3) in today's 1 p.m. championship game.

Even Wood, who will retire from coaching at the end of the season, had to smile and laugh when asked about the opportunity to win his first state title in his 10th and final appearance as a coach.

"You can't ask for anything better, so that's what I hoped for, for sure," Wood said. "That's the reason I kind of waited until the end of the year to [announce my retirement] and just make sure kids are focused on what they want to do, and I think they're focused.

"Regardless of what happens, it's just nice to be here. We're going to have a shot at a state title. That's what you try to do every year is try to put your kids in a position to win a state title. We did it this year in basketball. We've done it now, so that's all you can do is get them there and hope they get it done."

Oran wasted little time getting it done on Tuesday. It took just 1 hour, 16 minutes for the Eagles to record the victory and secure their fourth appearance in a Class 1 championship game. Oran has not won a title in 11 previous final four appearances.

Starter Seth Ressel retired Sturgeon in order in the top half, then reached on an infield error to start the bottom of the inning.

"Take advantage of it," said senior Kody Moore about his thoughts when he saw Ressel reach from the on-deck circle. "Definitely. I think everybody on the team [was thinking that] whenever we seen that. We seen Seth get on, and then my ball got down. I think that kind of lit a fire, I guess you could say. We kind of just rolled after that, one person getting on leading the next. Really we just swung the bats and put the ball in play. That's what you've got to do to put runs on the board and win the ballgame."

The Eagles batted around in the inning and scored four runs, including one on Jacob Priggel's triple down the right-field line.

"Actually I thought it was going to go foul," Priggel said. "I really did. Then I thought he was going to get there and catch it, so I knew I'd at least get a run in. ... Then I saw it was down. I was just shooting for three after that."

Ressel made sure those runs were more than enough.

He gave up just five hits in a complete-game performance to follow up his two-hit win over Cooter in the sectional round. He struck out seven and walked one.

"He's throwing strikes," Moore said. "He's been going right at them, getting ahead early. His pitches have been working. He's been able to locate them. He's just been doing everything you've got to do to be an effective pitcher. He's getting ahead and throwing strikes -- and he's got good stuff."

The first two Sturgeon runners reached on singles to start the fourth before Ressel induced two flyouts to Priggel in center field. After a two-out single loaded the bases, a grounder to Moore at shortstop ended the threat.

"Just throw strikes," said Ressel about working out of the jam. "They had to put the ball in play for us to get outs, so that's what I had to do."

Sturgeon put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth, when the Bulldogs scored their only run on an infield groundout.

"I wanted to go shutout, but I know everybody else on the team was glad that was the only damage that was done," Ressel said.

Ressel is a player who is hard to impress, especially when it comes to his own performance. When he raised his hands into the air and smiled following the win, it was the most emotion he's shown during the Eagles' run to a third consecutive final four.

Oran extended the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Priggel's single drove in catcher Alex Heuring, who had tripled.

Moore, a senior, will be on the mound for today's championship game against defending state champion Santa Fe, which beat Oran 3-2 in eight innings in last year's state semifinal.

It will be the Eagles' first championship appearance since 2004.

"That was probably my toughest decision of the day was deciding who to pitch," Wood said. "We've got two good kids who do a good job. ... I feel like they're both equal pitchers. Day 1 or 2, you don't know how they're going to come out, but if they both come out and throw their game, they're both pretty darn good."

Moore pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up just one hit in relief against Santa Fe a year ago.

"It feels very good," Moore said about playing for a state title. "I'm definitely very excited, but we still haven't succeeded in my eyes. It still feels like there's a hole in your heart. It's not going to get filled with second place. Everybody knows what we're shooting for tomorrow."

Sturgeon 000 010 0 -- 1 5 4

Oran 400 010 X -- 5 8 0

WP -- Seth Ressel. LP -- Spencer Kelly. 3B -- Jacob Priggel (O), Alex Heuring (O). 2B -- Kalinowski (S). Multiple hits -- Oran: Jacob Priggel 2-3; Sturgeon: Ryan Seidel 2-3. Records -- Sturgeon 15-2, Oran 21-5.