WEST POINT — Garrett Edwards and Ty Harden drove in five runs apiece on Thursday night as the Oak Hill Academy baseball team earned an 18-8 win over Lee Academy in West Point.
The win sets up the Raiders to close out the season on a strong note and earn a high seed in the MAIS Class 4A playoffs.
The runs came early for the hosts, who scored 17 times through the first four innings. The 18th run, in the sixth inning, put away the game with a 10-run lead.
Junior Colin Boyd started the game on the mound and had an RBI and scored twice. Harden hit two RBI doubles and a two-run home run, while Edwards hit a two-run single in the first, a two-run double in the second and tripled in a run in the fourth.
Despite the fast start and prolific scoring, Raiders coach Bobby Permenter was frustrated by the runs conceded and the fielding errors that allowed the visitors to keep up for a time.
“I’m happy with it’ this puts us 9-3 in district, 12-8 overall, but we gotta play better defense, gotta have better pitching,” Permenter said. “We swung the bat well, but when our pitcher is struggling and we get a routine ground ball we gotta make a play. If we don’t start doing it, it’s gonna bite us in the playoffs.”
John Ross Craven went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and three runs, Brian Buchanan went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored, and Cameron Dill went 2 for 2 with two walks, an RBI and three runs scored for the Raiders, who finished with 17 hits.
Permenter added that he was happy with the offensive production and thinks that his team will be ready for the playoffs if they can find the right mindset.
““If we can win two out of three (against Kirk) we’ll be the number two seed,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a way we can be the one seed, so we’re shooting for two. I’m proud of these guys, and they battle, but we’ve got to get the mentality of making plays. They’re capable of doing it; they just gotta have the right mentality that they can do it.”
Oak Hill faces Kirk in a home doubleheader on Tuesday before traveling to Grenada for the third game on Thursday.
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