WEST POINT — Oak Hill Academy’s bats were uncharacteristically quiet through five innings on Tuesday, with more pitches hitting the Raiders (five) than their bats (four). Their only two runs were scored by players who reached base via an error.

Then everything changed. 

Buoyed by back-to-back two-run doubles by Cameron Dill and John Ross Craven, the Raiders rallied for five runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth inning and went on to a 7-3 win over Indianola in the opening game of their MAIS Class 4A first-round playoff series.

“I guess it’s just rusty from being off for a week,” Dill said, noting the Raiders had not played since wrapping up district play on April 14 against Kirk. 

But if Oak Hill’s bats were rusty, Indianola’s were kept in check by Raiders starter Gunter Reed. Reed went 6 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out five. Only one of the runs charged to him was earned.

“When we were struggling earlier, he kept us in the game,” Oak Hill coach Buddy Dill said. “He worked fast, he threw a lot of strikes, and he got people out.
“I struggled early in the game locating the fastball, but toward the end of the game I was locating the fastball and the curveball was working all game,” Reed said. “The changeup was working, too.”

Reed worked in and out of trouble throughout the game, and his defense alternated between errors and spectacular plays. The Raiders made four errors, but they also turned three double plays and made several running catches and diving stops.

Two of the former came from center fielder Brian Buchanan, who raced far to his left to rob Wade Lang with one out in the fifth and followed that up two batters later with a slightly less dramatic running catch to end the inning.

At third base, Dill made a tremendous play on a hard–hit ball with a run in during the fourth, turning potential trouble into a force at second to end the inning. 

Then there were the double plays: Dill making the tag on a runner headed to third and throwing to second for a force; Reed starting a 1-6-3 gem in the sixth; and Garrett Edwards, who had just moved to first base when Ty Harden relieved Reed, fielding a liner and tossing to second to double off Walker Anthony for the final out.

“Our defense backed (Reed) up a little bit, made some really good plays,” Buddy Dill said. “Our defense really kept us in it until our offense could get going.” 

Harden came on after Reed allowed his seventh hit, a slow roller that barely eluded Jake Glusenkamp at second with one out in the seventh. Reed, of course, wanted to finish the game.

“Coach told me before the game started, he said, ‘You’ve got 100 pitches,’” Reed said. “After that last base hit, that was my 100th pitch and Coach pulled me, but I had faith in Tyler to come in and finish the game for us.”

Just a few minutes earlier it looked as if the game wouldn’t be finished without extra innings. But Edwards led off the sixth by getting hit by a pitch for the second consecutive plate appearance — the fifth Raider hit by Lang — then moving from first to third on a Harden single and scoring on a single by Smith Chaney.

One out later, a failed squeeze seemed to dampen the Raiders’ momentum, but a walk to Glusenkamp — his fourth time on base — loaded the bases for Dill, who drilled his second consecutive double to plate two runs.

Craven followed with a two-run double to right, but he was thrown out by right fielder Westin Farmer trying to stretch it into a triple.

Farmer also nailed Craven in the top of the first trying to go from first to third on a single by Colin Boyd. 

“Their outfield threw us out a couple of times, so we’ve got to be more wary about running the bases,” Cameron Dill said. “Their catcher’s got a strong arm, so we’ve got to be careful about him, too.”

Those thoughts will be on the Raiders’ minds on Thursday when they travel to Indianola for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 of the series. Winning the opener, the coach said, will put them in a relaxed state heading into Thursday.

“It gives you a little bit of confidence, because you don’t want to go down a game in the series because you put so much extra pressure on yourself,” Buddy Dill said. “Winning the first game puts all the pressure on them. 

“We have two chances at it. We’re looking to win Game 2 and just get it done.”

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