WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It's a good thing the outfield fence at the Falcon Athletic Complex wasn't a few inches taller.
Blair Oaks sophomore Kamron Morriss belted a pitch toward left field, which bounced off the yellow cap on the top of the fence and then over for a two-run home run. That blast was the final play of the game in a Blair Oaks 10-0 win in five innings against the Eldon Mustangs on Monday.
"Kamron has been maybe our best hitter all year," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. "He struggled a little bit on Saturday, so for him to get a good swing there, that was a nice way to end it."
The win improves the Falcons to 4-1 in Tri-County Conference play. They need to win Thursday at School of the Osage and next Monday in their regular-season finale against California to finish in a three-way tie for first place with Hallsville and Southern Boone.
The first inning has been the highlight inning in a handful of the Falcons' wins this season. On Monday, the 1-2-3 inning was a frame to forget.
Then again, a four-run second inning made forgetting the first inning much easier for Blair Oaks.
"It wasn't a great start, but that second inning was a lot better," DeMilia said. "The lower part of our order got it going."
Michael Parmley and Seth DeWesplore hit back-to-back RBI singles up the middle to put the Falcons ahead 3-0. Morriss drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to make it a four-run advantage.
While Blair Oaks scored 10 runs in five innings, the Falcons left eight runners on base, which included leaving the bases loaded to end the second and fourth innings.
But in a 10-0 victory, leaving runners on base wasn't a problem for DeMilia.
"When you're scoring runs, it's OK," he said. "It's (a concern) when you're getting zeroes and leaving the bases loaded."
Blair Oaks tacked on another run in the third. Ian Nolph and Maclaine McCarter each hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 7-0.
The Falcons scored three of their 10 runs via sacrifice fly. McCarter drove in another run with a flyout in the second.
"That's one thing we haven't been great with this year," DeMilia said. "It seems like when we score runs, we have to get base hits.
"We talk about scoring the most runs with the least hits, and (sacrifice flies) allow that to happen."
Nolan Hair walked to begin the bottom of the fifth and Bryce Kempker singled to center and advanced all the way to third on a fielding error, scoring Hair to make it 8-0. Five pitches later, Morriss hit his home run to give Blair Oaks its fourth win this season by run rule.
Monday was also Senior Night for the Falcons, who honored Kempker and Colton Hoelscher after the game. Kempker led Blair Oaks at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two singles and one double.
Although Hoelscher did not play Monday, the Falcons' ace pitcher is slated to throw Thursday at Osage to try for his third conference win.
David Dell pitched a two-hitter to get the win on the mound. He finished with seven strikeouts while allowing three walks to get the shutout.
"Against Helias last week, he threw really well," DeMilia said. "Tonight, he was a little bit off, but he made pitches when he had to and competed the whole game."
Parmley also had a multi-hit game for the Falcons, collecting a pair of singles.
Blair Oaks (10-15) hosts Battle today, the third time this season the Falcons will get to play a team for a second time.
After the game, DeMilia told his players they are 2-0 in rematches, beating Fatima and South Callaway after losing to both teams earlier in the season. Blair Oaks dropped a 10-8 decision to Battle last month in the Columbia Tournament.
"We're going to have to play really well to win, but I think they're going to help prepare us for districts," DeMilia said.
In Monday's JV game, Blair Oaks defeated Eldon 12-7 to improve its record to 8-8.