Woodland baseball scrapes past Oak Ridge in first round of Oak Ridge Invitational

OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- The 26-mile bus ride to Oak Ridge High School was not kind to the Woodland baseball team on Thursday.

That was when the Cardinals' JD Jenkins suffered an unfortunate and untimely leg injury, forcing him to miss his first-round pitching start at the Oak Ridge Invitational Tournament.

Woodland coach John Craig instead turned to a pair of freshmen in Wyatt Allen and Karson Skinner, who did enough to get the job done in a 9-8, four-inning victory over Oak Ridge.

"That's a big spot for those kids to come in and do a good job for us," Craig said. " ... It says a lot. We're improving."

The game was stopped after four innings due to a tournament time limit of two hours.

Woodland's Karson Skinner pitches to an Oak Ridge batter in the fourth inning Thursday, April 7, 2016 during a quarterfinal game of the Oak Ridge Invitational Tournament.Glenn Landberg

Woodland (3-6) drew eight walks off Blue Jays starter Jordan Barker in the top of the first inning, resulting in a 4-0 advantage. Barker went 2/3 of an inning before being replaced by Nathan Bolin, who got a strikeout to end the threat with the bases loaded.

"We knew the situation with the wind and the rain -- it's not an easy situation for both pitching," Craig said. "We just wanted to make them throw strikes and just see what happens from there. They did a good job of just staying with the game plan early on."

Steven Masterson led off the bottom of the frame for the hosts with a single and advanced to second when the outfielder missed his cut off. A pair of groundouts sent Masterson across home plate, and Oak Ridge (2-5) trailed 4-1 heading to the second.

Keegan Cooper led off with a single to right, Skinner delivered a two-out base hit up the middle and Travis Fox reached on a walk to load the bases for the Cardinals in the top of the second. Bolin hit a batter and walked two before a groundout ended the inning with the bases juiced and Woodland leading 7-1.

Cole Schemel was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the inning, moved to second on an overthrown pickoff attempt and scored when Jordan Gilliland reached on a one-out error. Josh Pratt drove Gilliland home with an RBI single to left, pulling Oak Ridge within 7-3 going into the third.

Woodland's Jamie Wiseman runs down Oak Ridge's Nathan Bolin for an out in the fourth inning Thursday, April 7, 2016 during a quarterfinal game of the Oak Ridge Invitational Tournament.Glenn Landberg

Two more errors led to another run for the Cardinals in the top of the third, but an RBI single by Trevor Dillard and a fielding error led to a pair of runs for the Blue Jays in the bottom half of the inning, prompting Craig to change Allen out for Skinner on the mound.

With runners at the corners and one down, Oak Ridge attempted a double steal, but the Cardinals were able to sniff it out and tag both runners. Woodland led 8-5 after three complete innings.

"In the past years, we would've given up, and then it gets worse. I'm proud of them," Oak Ridge coach Josh Eftink said. "They stayed in there, kept fighting and fighting and got themselves back into it. ... We took ourselves out of some chances with some baserunning mistakes throughout the game."

Woodland stretched its lead to four runs in the top of the fourth before the Blue Jays answered back with one final burst.

Masterson led off the bottom of the inning with a single to left and moved to second after the ball was bobbled. He made it to third on a wild pitch before Bolin, who reached on a walk, was caught trying to steal second on another double-steal attempt for the second out of the inning. It allowed Masterson to score, and Tyee Curry and Barker reached on a single and a walk, respectively, before a balk moved them into scoring position.

Oak Ridge's Tyee Curry make his way to third base in the third inning against Woodland Thursday, April 7, 2016 during a quarterfinal game of the Oak Ridge Invitational Tournament.Glenn Landberg

That brought up Schemel, who laced a two-run single up the middle and moved into scoring position on the throw, pulling the Blue Jays within a run, 9-8.

Dillard followed with a grounder that rolled through the second baseman's legs, but the throw in from the outfield to catcher Tyler Womack was on point, as Womack secured the final out in a rundown between home and third.

"We had a lot of guys come up there in the last couple of innings we played there in situations where they came through with hits," Eftink said. " ... As far as up and down the lineup, we seemed like we were swinging the bats pretty well. I would say this is one of our better games up and down the lineup that we've had."

Schemel, the No. 6 hitter, led the way for the Blue Jays at the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with a team-high two RBIs. Masterson also accounted for a pair of Oak Ridge's seven hits.

Barker took the loss in 2/3 of an inning of work. He allowed four earned runs with eight walks before being replaced by Bolin, who pitched the final 3 1/3 innings and allowed four hits and five runs -- three earned -- with two strikeouts and five walks.

"The last couple times out there on the mound, he's really starting to throw like he's one of our best pitchers," Eftink said. "Early on, he didn't know if he wanted to really pitch or not, and I've been talking to him. Now he seems like he's really coming around a long way."

Skinner finished with two of Woodland's four hits, while Allen, Jamie Wiseman and Zach Cureton -- the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 hitters -- each tallied two RBIs.

Allen pitched 2 1/3 innings to pick up the win on the mound, giving up four hits and five runs -- four earned -- with two strikeouts and two walks. Skinner was credited with the save after striking out one, walking two and allowing three hits and three runs (two earned) in 1 1/3 innings of work.

The Cardinals left 10 runners on base and had six errors in the abbreviated game, but Craig was encouraged by his team's ability to weather the storm of losing one of its best players.

"We've had a rough start to the season, but we're improving quite dramatically I feel," Craig said. "We're still leaving a few plays out there, but we're getting better. Our IQ's getting better. Even with that last play of the game -- we booted it, but we were still smart enough to know that there was a situation developing at the plate.

"That's all we can ask for is whenever we make an error to just go on with the play."

Woodland will face the winner of Chaffee and Leopold, which was postponed during the first inning on Thursday. It will resume in the firs inning today. Oak Ridge will face the loser in a consolation semifinal today.

Woodland 431 1 -- 9 4 6

Oak Ridge 122 3 -- 8 7 3

WP -- Wyatt Allen. LP -- Jordan Baker. S -- Karson Skinner. Multiple hits -- Woodland: Skinner 2-2; Oak Ridge: Steven Masterson 2-2, Cole Schemel 2-2.