Eagles grand in Bank of Grandin Fall Classic

Some thoughts and observations on the weekend's tournament.

Coach Joey Bickings said, "I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats and the way we threw the baseball.  It's always nice to see the kids swing the bat well and score runs, but I always say that pitching and defense win games because your bats may not show up. 

 I thought our pitching did a great job this weekend allowing only 6 runs in 3 games.  I do feel like we walked too many batters though,  and when we did that the opponent scored.  If we can limit the walks and errors we can stay in games if we aren't hitting.  

It also comes down to timely hitting to win games.  Cole Priggel was able to do that Friday night when he hit the go ahead 2 run home run.  We had opportunities early in the game against East Carter but we weren’t able to get the big hit to open it up until later in the game.  Then our bats really came to life in the championship game as we hit 4 home runs and had 14 hits.  I hope we can keep the bats hot as we go through the fall."

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With Saturday evening's victory over Eminence in the championship of the inaugural Bank of Grandin Fall Classic, the Eagles baseball squad won its first tournament since the Class 1 District 2 tournament in 2014.

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The event included eight teams, all played 3 games.  There were three class 3 teams, including West County, which finished third in the state last year.  East Carter was the number 1 seed in Class 3 District 2 tournament but lost in the quarterfinals.  Arcadia Valley lost to West County in their district quarterfinals.

The class 2 teams included South Pemiscot.  South Pem lost in the state quarterfinals.  Van Buren lost to South Pem in the sectionals while Ellington lost to Van Buren in the district finals.

Oran and Eminence were the only class 1 teams.  Eminence lost to eventual state champion Bell City in a state quarterfinal game, while Oran fell in the district championship game to that Bell City club.

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The Eagles first game started about an hour late.  The game before was interrupted because an air ambulance had to land in the outfield to transport a patient from a nearby automobile accident.

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Clay Sauceda threw out 4 of 8 baserunners that attempted to steal.

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Last fall, Oran played 8 games.  During the season they hit a total of 4 home runs.  They hit 5 during the three games of the tournament.

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The Eagles outscored their opponents 25-6.

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Drew Reischman went 8-8 on Saturday.

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Oran used 6 different pitchers and compiled a team ERA of 2.211.  They struck out 25 while walking 10

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All three opponents names started with an "E"

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The Eagles have a team batting average of .432 and a slugging percentage of .667.