Oran's Elfrink bests Oak Ridge in pitchers' duel

ORAN, Mo. -- Junior right-hander Dalton Elfrink enjoyed the chance to toe the rubber opposite Oak Ridge standout Brett Thomas.

Elfrink didn't post the same gaudy strikeout total as Thomas, but he silenced the Blue Jays' bats in a 1-0 victory that took eight innings Friday.

"I felt like I had a lot of respect built to be able to be put up on the mound," Elfrink said. "I'm just happy we were able to come out with the win. And I'm just happy my arm held out for me."

Elfrink tossed 93 pitches over the eight innings and only allowed one hit -- a single to left field by Jake LeGrand in the sixth inning.

"Just keeping it outside and listening to my teammates cheering me on," Elfrink said. "It just gives me a drive to do better and make sure I carry the team."

Oran starter Dalton Elfrink delivers a pitch to an Oak Ridge batter during the sixth inning Friday in Oran, Mo. The Eagles defeated the Blue Jays 1-0 in eight innings. (Laura Simon)

Elfrink recorded eight strikeouts and only three walks, one intentional.

"What I do is if I can keep it low enough, normally they ain't going to be able to dip up under it," Elfrink said. "And if they do, it's going to be straight up. If not, I try to keep it on the outside and low."

Elfrink last pitched Wednesday, when he allowed five runs on three hits and three walks in one inning against Scott City. Oran coach Mitch Wood was impressed by his junior's turnaround Friday.

"Pitched a great game," Wood said. "I was glad to see that. He came back after struggling the other day. He came in and really struggled against Scott City. Boy he really did a good job today."

Elfrink needed to be that good because Thomas controlled the Eagles with his curveball.

BELOW: Oak Ridge catcher Dakota Zoellner congratulates pitcher Brett Thomas on a strikeout Friday. (ABOVE: Oak Rdige pitcher Lance Rohde, right, walks away after Oran baserunner Seth Ressel, middle, scored the winning run in the eighth inning Friday.)

Thomas, who already signed to pitch at the University of Missouri next year, leaned heavily on his fastball in the first three innings. Oran (6-0) struggled to make contact as Thomas fired in rockets.

That changed after Thomas' at-bat in the fourth inning. He took a monster rip at an Elfrink offering and came up empty. He limped a little getting back into the batter's box and flailed at the next offering to strike out.

"I took too big a cut for my own good and I got a sharp pain that went all the way down my leg," Thomas said. "I definitely pulled something in my groin. It doesn't feel real pleasant. I'm not going to lie.

"Could you tell on the strikeout swing because I couldn't hardly move? I was ready to get out of there."

Thomas hobbled back to the dugout and back out to the mound for the fifth inning. He labored through his warmup pitches and got a visit from coach Patrick Friga after his first pitch of the inning.

, April 8, 2011 in Oran. Oran won 1-0 in overtime. (Laura Simon)

"He said I want the rest of this inning and then we'll go from there," Friga said.

Thomas talked his way into remaining on the mound and pitched the next four innings, although his fastball no longer looked overpowering.

"It's competitiveness," Thomas said about continuing to pitch. "Anyone can just stop playing and give up, but I'm a high school baseball player. I don't get paid to play. It's my job to go out there and do what I can for my school. He asked me if I could keep going and of course I can."

Thomas said he considered the possibility of hurting himself more and hindering his college career but quickly dismissed those thoughts.

"Of course it enters your mind, but right now Oak Ridge is my team," he said. "Mizzou will be my team some day, but right now Oak Ridge is. I felt like I could go out there and pitch and help my team win, so that's what I did. Unfortunately we came out with a loss today."

Thomas started leaning on his curveball more often after the fourth-inning injury. He ended up striking out 15 and only allowed three hits. His lone walk was intentional.

"I felt like after that happened, I had to start pitching instead of throwing," Thomas said about the fourth-inning at-bat. "Those first couple of innings I was just winging it. But I felt like I really had to start pitching after that. I started working in a curveball and changeup and was trying to be effective."

Thomas usually uses four pitches -- fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup -- but he primarily used his fastball and curveball Friday. He didn't throw any cutters and loved dropping in his curveball when he got two strikes on a hitter.

"His curveball, you could read it real easy, it's just harder to judge where it's going to drop to," Elfrink said. "Just put the bat out there and hopefully it will pop off there. It has a hard drop to it. If you just stick with it and keep your eyes on it and follow through on it, you'll get it."

Oran finally dented the scoreboard after the Blue Jays (4-4) yanked Thomas after seven innings.

"We felt like it was time to step up and bump and grind," Elfrink said. "Time to get in there and do some work. We didn't hit bad against him [Thomas]. We just couldn't pull through with it. We couldn't make the hits to score any."

Lance Rohde replaced Thomas and allowed a single to freshman Seth Ressel then hit a batter and issued a walk to load the bases with one out.

Rohde's first pitch to Zac Chasteen deflected off catcher Dakota Zoellner's mitt and went to the backstop, allowing Ressel to score the anticlimatic game-ending run.

"It felt good, especially my buddy Seth, a freshman, came in there with a big old smile on his face," Elfrink said.

Oak Ridge 000 000 00 -- 0 1 0

Oran 000 000 01 -- 1 4 1

WP -- Dalton Elfrink. LP -- Lance Rohde. Records -- Oak Ridge 4-4, Oran 6-0.