HS Baseball: Balanced Play Earns Oak Ridge a Valuable Win

OAK RIDGE NORTH, TX -- Rescheduling saw the Oak Ridge War Eagles defend their home diamond on Monday afternoon against the visiting Grand Oaks Grizzlies in an 8-1 rivalry affair.

The matchup was supposed to happen on Saturday, but inclement weather prevented the game from taking place on the thoroughly soaked War Eagle field. The reschedule gave both teams added time to prepare for a rivalry matchup with ramifications on the district standings.

Oak Ridge’s battle for positioning near the top of the standings would be in severe jeopardy should the Grizzlies enter with an extra day of prep and knock them off.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Oak Ridge Head Coach J.J. Peirce discussed the team’s strategy given another day off and the anticipation implied in the standings.

“We let them relax. As crazy as that sounds, kind of let them relax,” explained Peirce. “I’ve been a part of rain delays, and if you take things too tense, it wears everyone out.”

A relaxed approach benefited the War Eagles in the early going, with their fielders playing loose but sound defense to keep the Grizzlies from building opening momentum.

Despite back-to-back innings with runners reaching scoring position, Grand Oaks was held scoreless in the first and second due to last-second pitching from Mikey Grayson that stranded runners.

On top of Grayson’s performance, fielders for the War Eagles covered large portions of the field to make acrobatic plays that dealt momentum-sucking outs to the trying Grand Oaks batters.

Oak Ridge turned this defensive play into positive momentum on the bases, starting in the bottom of the second.

A lead-off walk from Jonell Rodriguez was nearly negated by back-to-back outs, but a hustle single and solid swing from Luis Olmeda were enough to bring him home for the opening run.

Grand Oaks did respond in the top of the third with a run of their own, but it would prove to be the only meaningful gasp of offense from a Grizzly team that was silent for most of the game.

Meanwhile, the War Eagles got to work in the bottom of the third assembling a lead that would carry the team through the finish line.

Three runs in the third, two runs in the fifth, and two more runs in the sixth built a mountain of a lead for the War Eagle batters. Even multiple pitching changes from Grand Oaks were not enough to keep the Oak Ridge batters from finding their swings.

“Our approach was good,” said Peirce. “We’ve talked about approach, and I feel like they swung at the pitches they needed to swing at and took the pitches they needed to take.”

Adding to Oak Ridge’s success were four total errors committed by the Grand Oaks fielders. Misses on ground balls and throws off the bases were back-breaking, considering the amount of run support the War Eagles were already working with.

“We just needed to stay aggressive and keep them engaged on the base path,” said Peirce. “That’s kind of our game style. I think that really did it, and we have to holler at them every once in a while from the dugout.”

Oak Ridge’s seven-run cushion entering the seventh inning appeared to be the knockout blow to Grand Oaks’ comeback with just three outs left. However, the Grizzlies pulled out multiple tricks to try and salvage the game at the last minute.

Pinch-hitters in the first two at-bats got runners on base for Grand Oaks without conceding an out.

The second of the two batters was issued a free base on a walk, leading Coach Peirce to question his pitcher and what Grayson had left in the tank.

“I went out to get him out of the game, and he told me that he wanted one more,” said Peirce. “I gave him the go-ahead and told him that we needed to turn two.”

While not getting the double play his coach was expecting, Grayson and the rest of the War Eagle fielders fended off the most ferocious attempt to score from Grand Oaks all game. The Grizzlies loaded the bags with one out, but composure in the clutch saw a strikeout and fly-out to center to end the game without any more runs given up by Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge’s 8-1 win allows them to keep pace with the top teams in the 13-6A standings, but it will be a quick turnaround before their next test. Tuesday will see the Willis Wildkats come to town, with second place in the district up for grabs.

“Pitching and defense will be key,” said Peirce. “If our pitcher gets on the mound and throws strikes, and we don’t give up free bases, we can be right there in any game. It’s just gonna matter who gets that lucky hit.”

The first pitch of the Oak Ridge and Willis series is set for 6:00 on Tuesday at Oak Ridge. Meanwhile, Grand Oaks will look for a rebound with time on their side. A week away from action will see the Grizzlies face the same Willis squad on Tuesday of next week.

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