Blair Oaks baseball gets past Eugene 4-0

Austin Herigon of Blair Oaks delivers a pitch in a game on April 20, 2016 against Eugene in Wardsville, Mo.
Austin Herigon of Blair Oaks delivers a pitch in a game on April 20, 2016 against Eugene in Wardsville, Mo.

WARDSVILLE, Mo. — Get a hit, advance the runner by any means necessary, score a run, repeat.

Blair Oaks only had multiple hits in one of the three innings it scored in Wednesday against Eugene, but the Falcons were aggressive on the basepaths and moved the runners along any way they could in a 4-0 win.

The Falcons scored a single run in the second on two hits and an error, two runs in the fourth on a hit and a walk and another run in the fifth on just a single hit.

“We piece things together,” Blair Oaks head coach Travis Henke said. “We know when we get a runner on base, we take that extra base and we get a key hit to score that guy. That’s what we’ve been doing all year.”

The Eagles got six strong innings out of sophomore hurler Mason Kirkweg. He struck out two while surrendering three earned runs on six hits and four walks.

“He’s learning not just the throwing part of pitching, but the little things that go along with it,” Eugene head coach Mark Richard said. “… Not letting things that happen behind him rattle him and he’s come a long way this year.”

Blair Oaks’ Austin Herigon tossed seven shutout innings, only giving up two hits and hitting a single batter. He struck out six.

Herigon hit Brent Adrian with a pitch in the first before a popout to first base ended the frame.

Herigon struck out the side in the second and got three groundouts to the left side of the infield in the third.

“He had us off balance and we didn’t know what to expect,” Richard said. “He was going to throw any pitch at any time and we didn’t make adjustments.”

The Eagle bats finally sent the ball to the outfield in the fourth with two-out singles from Blake Rains and Chase Dickerson, but a slow grounder to third set up an easy force play to keep Eugene off the scoreboard.

Herigon didn’t allow another base runner the rest of the way, retiring the side in order in the final three innings with four flyouts, two strikeouts, two groundouts and a popout.

“He throws strikes and then he throws balls where they need to be thrown,” Henke said. “He keeps the batters off balance with three pitches and he’s done it the last few games. If he continues to throw like that and command his off-speed, we’ll be alright.”

There was not much need for power hitting for Blair Oaks.

Jason Rackers and Thomas Verslues hit back-to-back one-out singles in the second and Verslues stole second base to set up two runners in scoring position.

Following a strikeout, Frankie Falotico reached on an error to score Rackers for the first run of the game. Verslues attempted to score as well, but was tagged out at the plate.

Brenden Brown led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk and reached third on Verslues’ single to right.

Verslues then stole second base, Brown scored on the throw to the bag and Verslues made it to third on the throw home.

The extra base for Verslues would pay off, beating the throw home on Mason Gipe’s grounder to second base to extend the Falcons’ lead to 3-0.

“We’ve been working on it in practice,” Henke said. “Stealing bases, getting our secondary leads, just working on bunting and repetition is going to help pay off and it is.”

Verslues was the lone multi-hit player of the game, going 2-for-3 with a run.

A single hit in the fifth was enough for Blair Oaks to add another run.

Ryan Paschal led off with a single to center field, advanced all the way to third on a groundout and scored on Brown’s squeeze play.

“We’re not a power team,” Henke said. “I’m not going to expect to hit two or three home runs, or one. Our guys understand what the situation is with guys on base — If that’s going the other way, if that’s getting a fly ball, if that’s just doing their job and getting a bunt down, that’s what they need to do.”

These teams could meet again come district tournament time.

“We’re not too far off from this being a 4-3 game or even a 3-0 game the other way,” Richard said, “so that does feel good. Hopefully we can use that as motivation.”

Blair Oaks will face another district foe at 5 p.m. today when it hosts Fatima.

“When big games come like (today) against Fatima and in a couple weeks when we have districts, this small ball is going to have to pay off,” Henke said. “We worked on a few things (Wednesday) and had success with them.”

Eugene is off until Monday when it plays at South Callaway.