Oran wins in extras, Senciboy delivers with walkoff

ORAN, Mo. —Oran and East Prairie battled into extra innings in a classic Scott-Mississippi Conference showdown on Thursday, April 4 at Oran High School.

Oran (5-4) claimed a 3-2 victory over East Prairie (6-6) as Cooper Senciboy’s single in the bottom of the eighth inning brought home Rylan Mills for the game-winning run.

“Hopefully this propels us forward,” said Oran coach Joe Bickings. “We have had a pretty tough schedule here early on and have faced some really good pitchers. I’m a firm believer that iron sharpens iron. Playing against that competition will only make us a better team. We still have some work to do but today I saw a different level of focus in our team. I’m challenging them to keep that same level of mental focus for the rest of the season.”

Oran struck first when Nolan Loper’s sharp liner to center brought Brenden Campbell racing home, followed by Rylan Mills capitalizing on the throw for a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

“When you have an opportunity to jump on them early you better do it,” Bickings said. “I tell the team all of the time when we face a good pitcher, and the Scott-Miss Conference has a lot of very good pitchers, you don’t want to let him settle down and get in a groove.”

Owen Knight’s timely single in the top of the sixth inning allowed Hunter Newton and Ty Wallace to score, knotting the score at 2-2.

Kole Burger led Oran’s offense with a 3-for-4 performance, while Loper, Mills and Senciboy chipped in with the team’s other hits.

East Prairie had three hits, one each by Wallace, Knight and Rayne Jerrigan.

Oran’s strong pitching set the tone. Carson Kern started, throwing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Nolan Loper took over in relief, delivering five dominant innings with nine strikeouts. He allowed no earned runs.

“Carson Kern did a great job on the mound for his three innings of work,” Bickings said. “Then Nolan Loper pitched the next five innings in relief and gave us a great performance for the win.”

East Prairie countered with Noah Johnson, who pitched six strong innings, allowing two earned runs with seven strikeouts. Ty Wallace took the loss in relief with two strikeouts in 1.2 innings.

East Prairie hosts New Madrid County Central (2-6) on Wednesday, April 9, while Oran hosts Advance (2-5) on Friday, April 11.

ORAN 3, EAST PRAIRIE 2

E. Prairie 000 002 00 — 2 3 0

Oran 200 000 01 — 3 6 2

W—Nolan Loper. L—Ty Wallace.