WARDSVILLE - In their first meeting this season against the Fatima Comets, the Blair Oaks Falcons were held to just two runs in the fifth-place game of the Capital City Invitational.
The Falcons scored five times in the first inning alone in Thursday's rematch.
Blair Oaks wrapped up a stretch of eight games in eight days with a 12-2 win in five innings against Fatima at the Falcon Athletic Complex.
"We had the right frame of mind," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. "We came in loose, ready to go."
The Falcons collected four hits in their first six plate appearances in the first inning. Kamron Morriss hit an RBI double to left-center field and Ian Nolph blooped a two-run single into right field to give Blair Oaks a 3-0 lead.
Cameron Hardwick also blooped an RBI single just over the first baseman's head later in the inning. He then stole second base, with Webb Villmer stealing home to complete the double steal, making the score 5-0.
"When you give six outs in the first inning, six outs equals five runs," Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said. "That's tough. We're just not getting it done."
Blair Oaks finished the game with 14 hits in four innings. Each starter had at least one hit.
"We've been swinging the bat better," DeMilia said. "We saw good pitching last weekend in Columbia, we saw a lot of good arms. I really felt that made us better."
The Falcons added another run in the second inning before posting another five-run frame in the third. After back-to-back RBI hits from Bryce Kempker and Morriss, a Fatima error led to two more runs scoring.
Morriss went 3-for-3 with a single, two doubles and two RBI, while Kempker went 3-for-4 with three singles and one RBI. Hardwick, the No. 8 hitter, finished with two singles.
After moving players around a bit in the batting order, DeMilia feels he finally has the lineup where he wants it.
"It's been pretty consistent the last three games," he said.
Blair Oaks scored another run in the fourth to end the game early by run-rule.
Cade Stockman earned the win for the Falcons, pitching all five innings. He scattered seven hits and walked just one while striking out three.
Fatima scored its first run on an error in the second inning. In the third, Drew Bax crushed a solo home run to left field for the Comets to make the score 6-2.
"He got a great swing on that," Kilgore said. "We've got some guys who are seeing the ball well and hitting the ball well. We just don't have support behind them."
Fatima used three pitchers Thursday. Ben Robertson was credited with the loss, giving up five runs on five hits and one walk in two-thirds of an inning. Austin Wegman and Wyatt Luebbert also pitched for the Comets.
Fatima (5-8) hosts Hickman today, the Comets' fourth game in as many days this week. Fatima has scored just three runs in its past three games, and Kilgore said he's trying to play to the numbers to get his team out of its current funk.
"It's just been a bad week for us," he said. "We're ready for the week to be over. The best thing about it is it's April 19. We have a couple more weeks.
"It's there, we just have to find a way to spark it."
Blair Oaks (7-13) will have its first weekend off this month before hosting Hallsville on Monday. The Indians took over first place in the Tri-County Conference with an 8-4 win Thursday against Southern Boone.
The pitching staff sure could use the break, but
"We just played probably our best game of the year, and now we have to have three days off," DeMilia said. "I'd almost rather keep it rolling, but it's probably good for them. We've played a lot of baseball."
In Thursday's JV game, Fatima defeated Blair Oaks 3-1 in five innings, dropping the Falcons' record to 5-4.
Jacob Rademan pitched the last three innings for the Falcons, striking out four. Caden Killday had one double and one RBI, driving in Devin Koelling.
Blair Oaks' JV team plays Saturday in the Hallsville Tournament against Fulton and Boonville.