Oran tracks down spot in Class 1 quarterfinals

ORAN — Tyler Beardslee spent the wee hours of Monday morning thinking about his team's Class 1 sectional baseball playoff game.

The Oran senior admitted he didn't sleep well as he counted down the time until he could take the field.

He laughed when asked if his performance in Monday's game matched the way he pictured it playing out.

Beardslee smacked two home runs and drove in a game-high four runs to lead the Eagles to a 12-4 victory over Cooter in front of a packed crowd.

"I wish this game could have come sooner," Beardslee said. "I sat in bed all night thinking about this. I would say I was anxious, wanting the game to be here and play and get out there. I wasn't really too nervous."

It was the first time in Beardslee's high school career that he hit two homers in a game. Even with the wind howling out, he said he didn't change his approach at the plate.

"I never try to hit a home run anyway," he said. "But you've just got to hit it. If you get the good spot on it, it's definitely going to go today. Luckily I got it. As soon as I got it in the air, I knew anything was possible because the wind was blowing out."

The Eagles will get a shot at erasing the memory of last year's state quarterfinal loss to Valle Catholic. Oran will play at Valle in the quarterfinal round Wednesday.

Beardslee's first round-tripper came in the third inning with the score tied 2-2. He drilled the pitch over the 320-foot sign in right field that sent the fans seated behind the fence scurrying. The two-run homer gave the Eagles a 4-2 lead, which they wouldn't relinquish.

Cody W. Dirnberger sent the next pitch from Cooter starter Aaron McCaig over the center-field wall for back-to-back homers.

Beardslee led off the fifth inning with a solo shot to left field, increasing the Eagles' lead to 6-4. When he came to the plate with two on in the sixth, he said he didn't try for a third homer. He still lifted a ball deep to center for a sacrifice fly to help pad his team's lead.

"With runners on second and third, we needed to score more runs," he said. "I just tried to hit the ball to the right side, and that's what I did."

Beardslee finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored and four RBIs. He said it was a fitting end to his career on Oran's field.

"It's my last game I'll play here ever," he said. "It was awesome. I couldn't have pictured it any better. I couldn't have drawn it up any better than I did."

Beardslee started the season as the team's No. 2 hitter, but struggled and was moved to the No. 7 hole within the last few weeks.

"He wasn't hitting, it's pretty simple," Oran coach Mitch Wood said. "He was striking out a lot and just wasn't hitting the ball well. As you can see, I've got some kids who can hit the baseball. We aren't going to watch a kid hitting .250 in the No. 2 hole. Everybody above him is outhitting him, it's that simple."

Monday's performance raised Beardslee's average to .398, and he has driven in a team-best 39 runs. He's hit eight homers, one behind team leader Jayden Pobst, who earned the win on the mound Monday.

Beardslee wasn't the only one blasting the ball over the fence. Logan Edwards gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the second. Oran's Kody Campbell didn't waste any time evening the game in the second when he sent a two-run homer over the fence in right-center field. Then Dirnberger hit his solo shot after Beardslee's first.

"[McCaig] was 10-0 before today," Cooter coach Allen Crawford said. "He was just wild today. He couldn't find the strike zone. Once they hit the home run off him, I don't know if he lost his confidence or what. He just didn't have it."

No one has been able to cool down Oran's potent offense in the postseason. The Eagles averaged 17.3 runs per game in the district tournament, and added another 12 on Monday, which lowered their runs per game to 16.5 in the postseason.

"They've got a tough lineup," Crawford said. "We kept leaving pitches up all day. I told the kids you have to keep the ball down around the knees and we kept leaving it up and they make you pay."

Wood said he won't let his hitters cool off with their day off today. The team sports a .372 average this season.

"We hit, hit, hit," Wood said. "That's all we do. And we'll continue to hit. We take a lot of BP, it's that simple. We're going to continue to take a lot of BP as long as I'm here."

Cooter 020 200 0 — 4 6 1

Oran 023 025 x — 12 10 1

WP — Jayden Pobst. LP — Aaron McCaig. 2B — McCaig (C). 3B — Kody Campbell (O). HR — Logan Edwards (C), Kody Campbell (O), Tyler Beardslee 2 (O), Cody Dirnberger (O). Multiple hits — Cooter: Charles Copeland 2-3; Oran: Campbell 2-4, Beardslee 2-2, Dirnberger 2-3. Records — Cooter 21-3, Oran 22-4.