Oran baseball team uses lethal combo of luck, skill to advance

O'FALLON, Mo. -- The Oran baseball team's Class 1 semifinal didn't start until 25 hours after it was originally scheduled thanks to rain, which left the players with quite a bit of time to fill.

The Eagles played video games, spent Monday evening playing arcade games at Dave & Buster's restaurant and had pillow fights, according to senior Kody Moore.

Moore also tried to strike it rich with a couple of his teammates before his team's eventual 5-1 win.

"Since I'm 18 and a big boy and all, me and Hunter Schlosser and Blake Schlitt -- we were sitting there thinking," Moore said. "And since we are -- I don't know if 'entrepreneurs' is the right word -- we just look to make money. We figured the best way to make some money is to go get some lottery tickets, so we all threw in some money and went and got a lot of lottery tickets."

The plan didn't go exactly as the budding businessmen hoped. They only earned back about a third of the money they spent.

Oran’s Kody Moore throws out Sturgeon’s Brayden Kelly at first base during the sixth inning of their Class 1 semifinal Tuesday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Mo.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing," Moore said. "We've got plenty of luck left for the field."

That was apparent in the first inning of Tuesday's semifinal.

Oran lead-off batter Seth Ressel reached base on an error before Moore recorded a bloop single that went just over the shortstop's head.

It was a run of luck that contrasted what had happened during the Eagles' trips to the final four the past two seasons.

"I definitely thought of that," Moore said. "I was thinking of years past whenever we had an error here or a costly error here, I'm thinking, 'You know what, it's time for us. It's for the better this year.' So, yeah, it definitely went through my mind. That's how the ballgame went today. We got the breaks."

Oran's Kody Moore fields a ground ball from Sturgeon's Brayden Kelly in the sixth inning of the Eagles' 5-1 win over the Bulldogs in the Class 1 semi-final game Tuesday, May 28, at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo. (Adam Vogler)

Alex Heuring reached on an infield error and plated the first run of the game when Moore followed with a hit. Jacob Priggel then hit what was scored a triple on a ball the left fielder could have caught. The Eagles ultimately scored four runs in the inning.

"It's huge," Oran coach Mitch Wood said. "Baseball's a mental game, and I thought mentally we did a good job of staying focused on it. We put the ball in play and made them handle it. That's what we try to do.

"Anybody can catch fly balls mostly, so hopefully just keep it on the ground and make them do something with it."

While getting a few breaks was important for the Eagles, it was just as important that they didn't give any. After committing five errors in semifinal losses the past two seasons, they didn't commit any Tuesday.

"We've been focused," Wood said. "I thought the kids came out ready to play baseball today. It's like any other game, we're going to make some mistakes. Today, luckily, we didn't make mistakes, they did. We put the ball in play to make them. That was the biggest thing."

Oran’s Jacob Priggel slides into third base ahead of the throw to Sturgeon’s Hunter Smith during the fifth inning of their Class 1 semifinal game. Priggel advanced all the way to third on an errant pickoff throw to first base.

Moore, who will start for Oran in today's championship game, wasn't sure what superstitious protocol to follow before the title game.

"I'm in a dilemma here," Moore said. "If I buy more tickets and I don't win, that's means we'll probably win tomorrow. But if I buy more and I win, like a million dollars, then we ain't going to win."

Then he quickly reconsidered.

"Yeah, there's probably going to be some more lottery tickets in the near future," he said. "It'd be nice if we could win a million tonight and a state title tomorrow."

Noteworthy

Oran pitcher Seth Ressel throws a 3-2 pitch with two out during the second inning to Sturgeon’s Hunter Smith as the Bulldogs’ Ryan Seidel breaks for second base in Class 1 semifinal game at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Mo. Ressel retired Smith on a flyball to center field. Oran won 5-1 to reach today’s championship game against defending state champion Santa Fe. (Adam Vogler)

* Wood is not a proponent of taking a pitch. In his view, a high school player might only see one quality pitch in an at-bat, so it's best not to waste it in an effort to be patient.

Ressel and Moore swung at the first two pitches Sturgeon starter Spencer Kelly threw, and the Eagles routinely swung on first pitches throughout Tuesday's game.

"That's expected of us," Moore said. "It's what we do every game basically. We do it every game. We come out aggressive, and for the most part we swing the bats. Today we were. We jumped on them quick. We swung the bats, but looking back there's always a few times where you can say, 'Oh, I should have swung first pitch on that one' or this or that, but overall, we do that tomorrow and I'm going to be happy. I'm pretty sure we'll be happy with the results."

* Seven players contributed to Oran's eight-hit total. Priggel, a sophomore who was 2 for 3, was the only player to collect more than one hit. Bear Hicks, the only player to not record a hit, contributed with an RBI groundout in the pivotal first inning that scored Priggel.

* The Eagles are appearing in their 12th baseball final four in school history. They've finished third eight times and second three times.

* Moore was rooting for Santa Fe to defeat Dadeville, which it did 11-4 in a game that ended late Tuesday.

"I hope we get to see them in the championship game," Moore said. "That'd be awesome. Be a good matchup, a rematch, I guess you could say -- a grudge match. Hopefully it turns out different that it did last year."