Oran baseball team rebounds for third place in Class 1

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Kody Moore was baffled. Shocked even.

The Oran sophomore could not believe that one of his teammates would mention a teammate's no-hit bid while the game still was in progress.

"You know, you can't talk about a no-hitter," Moore said. "I didn't want to ask anybody, but I noticed about the fourth inning. I just kept it to myself."

Teammate Dalton Elfrink kept that no-hitter going until there were two outs in the top of the six inning in Oran's 10-0 victory over St. Elizabeth in the Class 1 third-place game Thursday at Meador Park.

"They told me around the fifth inning and then after that little blooper, I was like, 'Dang,'" Elfrink said. "But I can't let it get to me because that's just another thing. As long as we got the W, I'm happy about it."

Oran's Dylan Dannenmueller leaps for the ball as St. Elizabeth's Caleb Heckemeyer slides safely into second during the first inning of the Class 1 third-place game Thursday in Springfield, Mo. Oran won 10-0.

Elfrink at first said it was assistant coach Adam Friga who told him but then said it was classmate Tyler Schlitt.

"I was like, 'Oh,'" Elfrink said. "That kind of startled me a little bit."

Violations of long-standing baseball superstitions aside, Elfrink was in command of his stuff and the St. Elizabeth lineup throughout the Eagles' win.

He did not allow a ball to be hit to the outfield until there were two out in the fourth inning.

Senior Nolan Urhahn made a diving catch to get the out for Oran and followed up that with a second diving play an inning later.

Oran's Dalton Elfrink pitches during the first inning of the Class 1 third-place game against St. Elizabeth on Thursday in Springfield, Mo. Oran won 10-0. (Kristin Eberts)

"You pitch and you play a little defense," Oran coach Mitch Wood said. "That's another thing -- we made some spectacular plays behind him. Our defense did something they did at the beginning of the year."

A day after committing five errors in its state semifinal, Oran did not make any in its defeat of St. Elizabeth.

"Last night we all got together and we all kind of realized that we didn't play to the best of our ability," Elfrink said. "If we wanted to do something with ourselves, we had to put 100 [percent] on the field."

Oran collected its seventh third-place trophy at the final four to go along with three second-place finishes.

"We came in with the philosophy of let's make history and bring home the first state title," Moore said. "But after last night and this morning in our huddle out in center field, we were kind of like let's not make history and bring home the first fourth place. We kind of flipped that around."

Oran's Blake Carlyle singles during the third inning of the Class 1 third-place game against St. Elizabeth.

Moore led the Eagles with four hits and two RBIs in four at-bats to go along with a walk.

"Today I think the biggest thing was I just wasn't thinking at the plate," Moore said. "I was obviously upset that we didn't win [Wednesday], but I forgot about it at game time today. I was just determined to hit. I couldn't let the seniors down, and I couldn't let them go out with a loss."

Senior center fielder Tyler Heuring was the only other Oran player to finish with multiple hits. He had two hits and three RBIs in four at-bats.

Elfrink tripled and had two RBIs, while Seth Ressel and Trenton Hency also drove home runs.

Oran jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning and added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The Eagles scored two more in the sixth and another in the top of the seventh.

Oran's Tyler Heuring, left, high fives Kody Moore after Moore scored a run during the sixth inning of the Class 1 third-place game against St. Elizabeth on Thursday in Springfield, Mo.

Oran finished the season 24-3.

"It's all you can ask for if you can get a win to finish your season," Wood said. "That's a great thing.

"They're a great group of kids. They lost three ballgames. They just lost one at the wrong time."

Before Moore paused in disbelief and stood frozen for a second with wide eyes after being told someone had talked to Elfrink about his performance while it still was going on, he praised his teammate.

"Dalton did phenomenal," Moore said. "He threw great. You can't even hardly describe how good he threw -- a one-hitter and that one hit was just a little bloop over second. I would've did anything in the world to catch that ball, but he did good. He threw an awesome game, one of his best all year, and he carried us through this one."