ORAN PREVAILS IN SHOWDOWN WITH BELL CITY

BELL CITY, Mo. -- Oran, up by two runs going into the seventh inning, wasn't satisfied.

The Eagles went into attack mode and scored five runs in the top of the seventh as Oran knocked off Bell City 10-3 on Tuesday in a battle of the area's state-ranked Class 1A squads.

Oran and Bell City are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the upcoming District 2 tournament.

Oran, ranked fourth in Class 1A at 15-5, sent 10 batters to the plate and took advantage of three Bell City errors in the seventh to put the game away. Bell City, ranked fifth in the state, dropped to 16-2.

"This is a big win for us," Oran coach Mitch Wood said. "I didn't think we were as focused today as we have been, but we played better at the end."

Though the game was close until the seventh, the score could have been more lopsided. Oran outhit Bell City 10-2. Oran hit several balls hard right at people, while the Cubs' hitters had troubles figuring out Oran starter Trey Graviett.

Graviett struck out 10, but walked six as he improved to 7-0.

"He does a nice job," Wood said. "I've got two kids who have been throwing the ball real well for us. His walks hurt him today. If he doesn't walk anybody, they don't score their runs. It's something we have to work on. We have to get away from those walks."

The Eagles jumped on top quickly in the first. Nathan Seyer led off with a single then Ryne Wood homered to left to drive home two. Wood had by far the best day at the plate for Oran, going 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Bell City took the lead in the third when Zac McIntyre and Niel Ramsey -- the Cubs' No. 8 and 9 hitters -- drew walks to lead off the inning. Jack Daniels chased home McIntyre on a double down the right-field line. Ben Duncan then provided a sacrifice fly and Daniels scored on an RBI groundout by Ty Brown.

Oran tied the game at three in the fourth inning when Joey Bickings walked and came home on a double by Graviett.

The Eagles took a 5-3 lead in the fifth on an RBI single by Garrett Cook and a sacrifice fly by Bickings.

In Oran's five-run seventh, Bickings drove home a run on a walk, Graviett drove home a run on an error and Tyler Cookson and Matt Bucher provided RBI singles.

Bell City was without perhaps its best player, Gabe Scherer, who was away on a senior trip.

"I was proud of our guys," said Bell City coach David Heeb. "We were missing two of our seniors today and we had a freshman and sophomore out there and we hung with the best team in our district for six innings.

Jason Rampley suffered the loss for Bell City. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed seven runs, six earned, on eight hits and two walks. He struck out six.