Oran baseball team reaches district final

~ The defending Class 1 champions defeated Bell City 7-3

ORAN, Mo. -- Bell City and Oran were tied in the fourth inning of their Class 1 District 2 semifinal Tuesday afternoon when Aaron Smith stepped to the plate with one out.

The Eagles brought their infield in with runners on second and third, and Smith crushed a liner -- that just happened to head right toward shortstop Seth Ressel, who made the catch and ran to second base to double off a runner and end the threat.

The Eagles seized the momentum from that play and scored three times in the bottom of the inning on their way to a 7-3 victory that set up a district final against rival Advance today.

"A big game-breaker I felt like was in the fourth inning when they turned a double play on a ball Aaron Smith hit hard that could have drove in two," Bell City coach Justin Simpher said. "It just kind of takes the wind out of your sails. Who knows what happens that inning and if the momentum would have kept going."

It was the bottom of the lineup that started the rally for Oran, the defending Class 1 state champion. No. 7 hitter Tanner McVay singled to start the bottom half of the inning and Dustin Gebhardt and Preston Hahn both reached on bunts. Gebhardt sent his down the first-base line for a single and Hahn reached on an error.

"Tanner did a great job of getting on base and setting the table for us," Oran coach Kody Campbell said. "Then we asked our guys to give themselves up and sacrifice bunt to move the guy into scoring position, and fortunately enough twice in a row we got lucky and they put down two very well-placed bunts and were able to load the bases up for the top of the order and that was huge for us."

Ressel hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to give Oran the lead for good.

"I just barely got underneath it," Ressel said. "Me and coach were talking about it. I was really hoping for the curveball because he hadn't thrown me one yet, and I really like hitting curveballs. The first one he threw to me was a curveball, but it was high and I looked at coach and he started smiling at me because we were talking about it. But then he gave me another one [out of the zone] and it was 2-0, and I decided in my head that if it was anything close I was going to swing at it if it was a fastball, and I did. I barely got underneath it and I was a little mad but satisfied just because I got an RBI, but I wanted more."

Ben Heuring followed with an RBI double and Jake Priggel drove home the inning's final run with a groundout.

Bell City scored first in the game when Nate Finney drove home Cole Nichols in the top of the first, but Oran replied back with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a two-out, two-RBI double by Chance Tenkhoff.

"It's a huge deal," Campbell said of the quick reply. "Obviously we don't score a ton of runs, and we can't afford to fall behind by a lot because our offense -- sometimes we struggle. But I thought we handled our business with a very workman-like attitude: 'Not a big deal. We got down one run. So what? We're going to have to score to win anyway.' So we came back and strung together a few good at-bats and Chance, like a senior should, stepped up with a big two-out hit there and got us on the board."

Bell City threatened again in the second, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but Oran starter Hunter Schlosser threw his best pitch of the day, according to his coach, to escape the jam.

"Early on in the first two or three innings he was falling behind in counts and was having trouble finding his breaking ball, but he threw a couple big ones," Campbell said. "The one to Nichols to strikeout to end the inning with second and third -- he threw a 3-2 breaking ball that was probably his best pitch of the game. He just battled and competed like an upperclassman and a guy who's pitched a lot for us all year should."

Schlosser, who pitched six innings, gave up two runs in the third inning to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead, but Oran again replied with a run in the bottom of the inning.

Bell City starter Bobby Wright pitched 6 1/3 innings and was 2 for 3 with two doubles, including one that scored a run in the third.

Tenkhoff, who played left field for the first time all season after recovering from a broken leg suffered during basketball season, retired Bell City in order in the seventh to seal the win. Heuring, the Eagles' No. 2 hitter, also recently returned from a broken finger suffered during the same tournament that Tenkhoff made his return to the mound.

"I told the other guys it took us the entire regular season to get healthy," Campbell said. "We got Chance back and we lost Ben Heuring for two or three weeks with a broken finger, but we got everybody back. Hopefully we can keep playing for a while."

The next obstacle is a familiar one in Advance, although in a different sport. The Eagles and Hornets have faced off for a district championship in basketball the last four years, with Advance getting its first victory in those meetings this season.

Ressel, the defending Southeast Missourian player of the year, will be on the mound for the Eagles today.

"Definitely," Ressel replied when asked if today's 4 p.m. game felt like a chance for payback. "I'm on the mound tomorrow."

That's something he relishes.

"It means a lot," Ressel said. "I feel a little bit more in control. I threw well the last game against Kennett, so hopefully I'll be throwing it well again."

Bell City 102 000 0 -- 3 7 2

Oran 201 301 X -- 7 8 2

WP -- Hunter Schlosser. LP -- Bobby Wright. 2B -- Wright (BC) 2, Ben Heuring (O), Seth Ressel (O), Chance Tenkhoff (O). Multiple hits -- Bell City: Nate Finney 2-4, Wright 2-3; Oran: Ressel 2-3.