Fall baseball wrap up

             Front:  Avery Mitchem. Kneeling: Kole Simms, Drew Mitchem, Clay Sauceda, Cole Priggel & Jake Phillips.            
Standing:  Jacob Shoemaker, Max Priggel, Peyton McVay, Wyatt Kinney, Layne Johnson, Drew Reischman, Todd Priggel, Denver Elfrink, Tyson Goodale, Austin Eftink & Luke Patterson

Once again rain wreaked havoc with the fall baseball schedule for the Oran High School Eagles.  A total of 6 games were lost out of the 14 game slate.  Those games included the opener, a Saturday double-header, the lone match up with rival Bell City and the final two games of the season. Last year, 4 of the 12 were lost due to weather.

The Eagles finished the campaign with a 7-1 record, outscoring their opponents 74-9.

Head Coach Joe Bickings said, "I felt like the fall season overall was a huge success."

The best game of the season, arguably, was a home contest with the Bloomfield Wildcats.  Oran trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.  Drew Reischman doubled with one out and then with two down Cole Priggel circled the bases after a misplayed single in the outfield.  Layne Johnson picked up the win in relief, striking out all 6 batters he faced.

They won 5 games by the mercy rule, including home and home series against Puxico and Advance and a road game at Leopold.  The home game with Leopold was one of the rain outs.  The Eagles also defeated South Pemiscot 5-0.

Their lone loss was 6-1 to Bernie.

Bickings said, "Every year coming into the fall you are going to have to start replacing the seniors that you lost from the year before."

He added his philosophy on the autumn season, "Being able to get them reps at their new positions and being able to see what works best for our team is what I like to use the fall for.  Are we playing to win every game?  Yes we are, but the record to me doesn't mean a whole lot.  I want my players to get in as many reps as possible so that I can evaluate them for the spring when there is a district championship to be one."

This year, the Eagles had to replace 3 full time starters and 1 part timer.  Preston Hahn was the everyday second baseman and #3 pitcher.  Tanner McVay was the regular third baseman and Blake Overfield was the starter in left field.  Blake Schlitt picked up several starts at first base.

Jacob Shoemaker, who filled in for an injured Denver Elfrink during the second half of the spring season in right field, made the move to second with Elfrink's return.  Drew Mitchem started at third base, while freshman Todd Priggel took over in left and became the second lefty in the pitching staff.  Clay Sauceda also logged innings on the mound.  When Sauceda moved out from behind the plate, Shoemaker donned the catching gear.  Depending on who was pitching, Cole Priggel would patrol center, left, short or second.  Johnson and Reischman also pitched this fall.

This fall's roster featured 19 players, including 4 seniors, 6 juniors, 4 sophomores and 5 freshmen.

Season stats looked like this: