Baseball looks for a banner season

The Oran High School boys baseball team looks to be the favorite heading into this year to replace the three-time defending district and state champions Bell City Cubs.  After falling just one game short of state play the last three years, The Eagles will feature a senior-laden ball club that was undefeated during the fall season, going 15-0 and claiming the championship of the inaugural Bank of Grandin Classic which featured eight teams, only two of which were class 1.

Coach Joe Bickings said, "Expectations are high as always with Oran baseball especially with the kids we have returning and after the fall season we had.  We lost one starter from last year’s spring team that went 14-5 and lost to State Champions Bell City.  While In the fall we were able to go 15-0 and get some much need reps.   We were able to be the preseason ranked number one for Class 1 and with that puts a target on your back.  We will have to come ready to play every game because we are going to get everyone’s best.  Our goals are also the same every year as we want to be able to compete for a Conference Championship as well as a District Championship.  After that, we will take things one game at a time."

This year's schedule is as follows: 

A printable copy can be found HERE



The season starts on Tuesday with a jamboree at Bernie.  More info on that is located here.




A printable roster is HERE.

The Eagles return first-team All-State infielder Drew Reischman.  Last spring, Reischman batted a team-high .524 and led his team with 33 hits,  nine doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI.  He was also All-Conference and was named to the 2017 All-Standard Baseball team.  During the fall season, he batted .582.  He had three home runs and 24 RBI.  He also had eight doubles.

Cole Priggel led the fall squad with a .583 batting average he also had a team-high four homers.

Other All-Conference returnees include Clay Sauceda and Layne Johnson.  Sauceda batted .407 in the spring with two home runs and 28 RBI.  In the fall, he batted .432 with a pair of homers and 22 runs driven in.  On the mound, during the spring, he was 1-0 with 14 innings pitched.  He had an ERA of 0.50.  He struck out 19 and walked only five. In the fall, he went 2-0 and did not allow an earned run in 13 and 1/3 innings.  He struck out 16, walked six and gave up only two hits.

Johnson batted .339 during the spring.  During the fall, he was 4-0 on the mound with a 0.78 ERA.  He struck out 40 and walked 11 in 27 innings.