Jays hammer Oberlin 12-2 in playoff opener
By Tom Dodge
It was the second of three goals for St. Edmund as the Blue Jays cruised to a 12-2 win over Oberlin Thursday in the opening round of the Class 1-A playoffs.
The fifth-seed Blue Jays had rolled to a perfect District 6-1A championship, earned a spot in the playoffs and a state title is still within their reach.
“We played a quality game overall,” Brown said. “We had a good night at the plate (14 hits) contact-wise and offensively we did what we had to do as we stayed aggressive on the bases (seven steals) and put a lot of pressure on them.”
Oberlin threatened in the top of the first inning when Scott Ortego reached on a fielder’s choice and Chadd Strother doubled, but the Blue Jay defense stiffened to snuff out the Tiger scoring opportunity.
The Blue Jays then took an early lead in the bottom of the inning when Wesley Richard singled, Tyler McGee walked and Jeff Fontenot (2-for-4) singled to load the bases.
Tyler Rodriguez (2-for-3) singled in Richard, while a sacrifice fly by Trevor Hargroder plated McGee.
The Blue Jays exploded for four runs in the bottom of the second as St. Eds began to put the game away.
Ryan Johnson (2-for-2) was hit by a pitch and Mac Manuel followed with a single to begin the inning.
Richard singled in a run and Quinn Arnaud also connected for double to score pinch runner Jarod Fontenot and Richard for a 5-0 lead.
Arnaud scored on Jeff Fontenot’s sacrifice grounder to second base as the Blue Jays moved ahead for a comfortable six run advantage.
Oberlin closed the gap to 6-1 in the top of the fourth inning when Tyler Strother reached on a passed ball third strike and later scored on Logan Slaydon’s single.
The Tigers added another run in the top of the fifth when Brandon Dotson bunted his way on and later stole home to close the gap to 6-2.
The Blue Jays pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth when Edward Turk singled and scored on Johnson’s single. Richard (3-for-4) added another RBI to his total when he drove in pinch runner Taylor Wallet.
The game was capped off by a four-run surge in the bottom of the sixth inning to complete the 10-run mercy rule contest.
McGee earned his second walk of the contest and then pinch runner Adam Wimberly stole third and scored on a passed ball.
Jeff Fontenot singled and scored on Hargroder’s single for a 10-2 lead.
Rodriguez walked and then Blake Pitre’s single to short pushed across pinch runner Jarod Fontenot and Hargroder as the game ended in the sixth inning.
Manuel earned the win for the Blue Jays as he struck out three, walked one and allowed one hit in three innings of work.
Rodriguez also pitched three innings with four strike outs, two walked and allowed three hits.
“I planned to use more than one pitcher because we will need them later on and we needed them to stay sharp,” Brown said of the pitching rotation.
The Blue Jays will face No. 12 seed Ascension Catholic (15-13) most likely on Tuesday at a time yet to be determined.
Ascension Catholic, which swept District 9-1A for the championship, defeated No. 21 seed Oak Grove 6-4 in the first round of playoffs Friday.
“I thought we would have been a number two or three spot,” Brown said of the Blue Jays’ No. 5 seeding. “But overall, I think we are on a good side of the bracket and I think we have a good chance to go all the way.
“We have a very deep line-up, deep on the bench and deep with pitching,” he said. “We may not have a dominant pitcher but we have five quality pitchers who throw strikes and we play good defense behind them.”