CALIFORNIA - Putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard is key to being successful in baseball, but Blair Oaks didn't necessarily need that in its 11-1 win Monday against California, thanks to Bryce Pritchett and Jason Rackers combining on a one-hitter.
Still, it didn't hurt to score two runs in the first and four runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
"I thought from those middle innings on, we had better at-bats and better approaches at the plate to continue to add to the lead," Blair Oaks coach Harv Antle said. "While we were doing that, Bryce and Jason did a good job to keep those guys off the basepaths and off the scoreboard. That's a good combination."
Pritchett pitched the first five innings, allowing the lone run in the first inning. Rackers allowed just one baserunner in the final two innings - a one-out walk in the sixth - and struck out two batters in the seventh while retiring the side.
"Bryce had a strict limit of 70 pitches," Antle said. "He was able to get through five with 69 so we made the change there. Jason came in and was pretty good in the last couple of innings. That sharpens those guys up and gets them ready for the district tournament."
Adam Schell and Jordan Hair led off the game with back-to-back singles, coming around to score after Brent Heckemeyer doubled.
"The top of our lineup step the table for us again,"Antle said. "Schell and Hair were able to get on and kind of set the tempo there. We flip-flopped them in the lineup a couple of weeks back, and both of those guys seem to be very comfortable in those spots."
After falling behind 2-0 lead in the top of the first, California answered with a run in its half of the inning. Landon Mouse recorded the Pintos' only hit of the game, hitting a line drive down the left-field line. Mouse scored three batters later off an error.
"He left a changeup up to Landon Mouse," Antle said. "After that he was able to find his location and get his pitches."
The Falcons blew the game open by scoring four runs in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-1. While only recording one hit, they scored runs off a bases-loaded walk, a passed ball, a squeeze bunt and a balk.
With one out, Alec Sieg singled up the middle and James Reinkemeyer reached on an error by the third baseman, which allowed Sieg to advance to third. Zach Burns walked to load the bases and Dalton Fifer got the RBI walk for the first run.
Blair Oaks then scored three more runs on the next two pitches. Reinkemeyer scored on a passed ball and Burns advanced to third. A squeeze bunt by Dylan Hoelscher scored Burns, followed by a balk that scored courtesy runner Mason Gipe before the next pitch was thrown.
"The guys were just relaxed," Antle said. "It was a little bit of a different style of approaching it, but the same result. That's what you want to be able to do, score in different ways."
The Falcons did just that two innings later, scoring four more runs on five hits.
Burns, Fifer and Hoelscher started the inning off with singles, with Burns scoring on Hoelscher's, to push the Falcons' lead to 7-1. Gipe, again on as a courtesy runner, later scored off a single by Hair, who moved to second on the throw home.
"In that inning we were able to take advantage of them overthrowing the cutoff man, we were able to get an extra base out of that," Antle said.
Heckemeyer's single to right field gave Blair Oaks a 10-1 lead, scoring Hoelscher and Hair on the play.
Fifer was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Burns was 2-for-4 with one RBI to pace the bottom of the lineup.
"We talk about having some length in our lineup, we can't just rely on those couple of guys at the top and even those guys in the middle," Antle said. "If you want to be playing winning baseball this time of the year, you have to be able to hit up and down your lineup."
Blair Oaks got its last run in the seventh. Burns doubled to left field with one out, then scored when Hoelscher had a similar hit, as both were one-hoppers to the fence that went over the left fielder's head.
Besides Mouse's hit in the first inning, Jaden Barr was the only Pinto to reach base. He walked three times in the contest, never making it past second base.
"We didn't see enough pitches and didn't make their pitcher work hard enough," California coach Jason Gatlin said. "I thought it was very one-sided at the plate tonight."
Blair Oaks (12-16) now turns its attention to the Class 3 District 9 Tournament, as the Falcons will open against Cuba at 6:45 p.m. Friday in Westphalia.
California (9-9) plays at 5 p.m. today at Warsaw before opening the Class 3 District 13 Tournament. The Pintos have a bye as the second seed and will play the winner of No. 3 Sherwood and No. 6 Cole Camp in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday at Warsaw.