Oran encounters problems with Stoutland, ump in Class 1 semifinal

SPRINGFIELD -- Oran starting pitcher Jayden Pobst said his arm felt strong and his confidence level was high while warming up before Wednesday's Class 1 state semifinal against Stoutland.

But after he threw the first pitch of the game, he learned he might be in for a more difficult day than he expected. He called home-plate umpire Scott Maid's strike zone the size of a baseball.

"After the first pitch, 'Wow, tough strike zone,'" Pobst said.

Pobst was unable to adjust to Maid's calls and the right-hander's day on the mound was brief. The junior was pulled after one-plus innings. He walked four batters, threw one wild pitch, allowed one hit and three earned runs.

Stoutland never surrendered its lead after capitalizing on Pobst's inability to throw strikes, posting a 7-4 victory at Meador Park in a game that also featured Oran coach Mitch Wood getting ejected in the fifth inning for arguing calls by the three-man umpiring crew.

Stoutland (21-2) advanced to today's title game against Santa Fe. Oran (23-5) will play for third place in today's consolation-round game against New Haven.

Wood's ejection came in the bottom of the fifth with his team trailing 6-2. Caleb Seyer attempted to steal second base with Alex Chasteen at the plate. Seyer slid in safely, but Maid called batter interference on Chasteen, who as a result was called out, while Seyer had to return to first base.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Oran shortstop Tyler Beardslee reacted to a successful pickoff play at second base during Wednesday's Class 1 semifinal at Meador Park in Springfield.

"Umpires have never beaten me," Wood said. "They never have. We beat ourselves today, bar none, end of discussion on that one.

"But he was horrible. It was all about him from the very beginning. You couldn't even talk to him or anything. Guys like that don't need to be out here. It's that simple. You come out here for the kids and do some things, and they just don't need to be out here. But he didn't beat us."

Wood, who can't coach today's third-place game because of his suspension, said he thought Maid's strike zone was low but consistent.

"It was a tight strike zone," Wood said. "There was no doubt about that. But it was both ways, both teams. He was consistently tight. I thought he did a good job consistently, but it was tight. ... [Stoutland] started adapting to where to throw the baseball."

Umpire Roger Casady got between home plate umpire Scott Maid and Oran coach Mitch Wood after Maid ejected Wood during the fifth inning.

Pobst also said the strike zone was low, causing him to throw slower to get better aim on his pitches. He took the loss just a month after beating the Tigers 3-0 in the Stoutland tournament, where he tossed a one-hitter and struck out 13.

"Tough ump, and you're going to have that," Pobst said. "He was making tough calls for both sides. You're just going to have to work through it. I didn't seem to do that."

Stoutland pitcher Cory Kyle, who took the loss last month against Oran, started the bottom half of the first inning with three straight walks and appeared to be headed in the same direction as Pobst, but he was able to settle down.

Kyle, a senior, earned the victory by hurling a complete game. He gave up four runs, all earned, on seven hits and six walks. He struck out 13.

"The ones I walked, the pitches weren't even close," Kyle said. "They were definitely balls. It wasn't the umpire. I wasn't nervous or anything because we've been here before. I think I walked more today than I have total all year. It was uncharacteristic of me, so I don't know what it was."

Pobst started the first inning by striking out the leadoff hitter. Daniel Hernandez, the next batter, walked on a 3-2 count. The pitch was close and Hernandez actually began to walk back toward his dugout, thinking he had struck out. But he was called back and told he could take his base.

"I was kind of ticked off about that," Pobst said. "But you've got to get through it."

Kyle doubled to left field with Hernandez advancing to third. Hernandez then scored on a wild pitch to help his team lead 1-0. Kyle scored on a sacrifice fly and the Tigers added another run to make it 3-0.

"I really had a good first inning," Pobst said. "Like I said, he [the umpire] had some bad calls. And they [Stoutland] hit the ball. And they hit it in the gap."

Pobst threw 31 pitches in the inning, 13 for strikes.

Oran cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the first. The Eagles were helped out by Kyle walking Kody Campbell, Steven Dooley and Seyer to start the game. Chasteen then grounded out to second, scoring Campbell.

Kyle struck out the next two batters to escape the jam.

"I just knew we had a lead and I had to come right at batters and trade outs for runs because we had a lead," Kyle said. "My fastball was working. My curveball was dropping down a little bit. It wasn't dropping like it normally does."

Campbell said his team needed to take advantage of the three walks to start the inning.

"We had bases loaded and nobody out and we scored one, but it would have been nice to tack on a few more there," Campbell said.

Pobst was taken out in the top of the second after walking the leadoff batter. Dooley entered in relief. He walked two batters in the inning, but was able to get out of the second without allowing the Tigers to score.

Stoutland added a run in the third on a squeeze bunt, then pushed its lead to 6-1 in the fifth.

"We just didn't make plays," Campbell said. "I thought we threw good enough to win. We hit good enough to win. We just didn't make plays."

Oran scored a run in the fifth inning to cut its deficit to 6-2. Campbell led off the inning with a double to deep left-center. After Dooley struck out, Seyer singled to left field to score Campbell.

The Eagles loaded the bases in the sixth with two outs. Seyer came up representing the tying run and was hit by a pitch, making it 6-3. But Kyle struck out Chasteen to prevent any further damage.

"He pitched real good last time," Pobst said of Kyle. "We've seen him, so this time we kind of hit him. But I think he pitched better this time. He's a good accuracy pitcher."

Stoutland added an insurance run in the top half of the seventh.

Pobst started the seventh with a triple to right-center. Tyler Beardslee hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Pobst to score and cut the deficit to 7-4. But Kyle struck out the next two to end the game.

"We wanted revenge," Kyle said. "Last time [Oran] saw us, we definitely weren't at our best. We've been working on hitting the hard fastball and just taking it the opposite way."