There was one upside to Parker Bax's rough pitching performance against Southern Boone. It meant he had the ability to pitch again later in the week in the Capital City Invitational.
Blair Oaks' senior ace made the most of his second outing of the week Saturday, pitching a complete-game five-hitter to lead the Falcons to an 8-2 win against Lutheran: St. Charles in the tournament's fifth-place game at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"He was making pitches the whole time," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. "I could tell right away he was in a groove there, and in the middle innings, he really cruised."
Bax allowed both runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run bloop single by Dalton Short, his Lutheran: St. Charles counterpart. However, after Short was thrown out attempting to stretch his single into a double, Bax retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced.
DeMilia said that's the Bax performance he expected to see, unlike last Tuesday's three-inning outing in a 7-3 loss to Southern Boone.
"The pitcher sets the tone for the whole game," DeMilia said. "If the pitcher's dealing, that takes the pressure off the hitters and the defenders."
Bax allowed just one walk and finished with six strikeouts, needing just 98 pitches for a complete game.
Fittingly, the game ended on a groundout hit back to Bax. He fielded five comebackers on the mound in the win.
"It doesn't always look pretty when he does it, but Parker's pretty athletic," DeMilia said. "Pitchers have a lot of jobs, but when they can field their position, that really makes a big difference."
Blair Oaks scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on an error and added another run on a wild pitch in the second to take a 3-2 lead. The Falcons had runners on second and third with no outs in the second, but failed to push another run across the plate.
"That was the only negative of the day, I didn't think we hit very well with guys in scoring position," DeMilia said.
The offense came alive in the fourth. After a leadoff walk to Reid Dudenhoeffer, Hayden Salmons hit an RBI double to right-center field, followed by an RBI triple from Lane Libbert to the left-center gap. Libbert came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Levi Haney to push the Blair Oaks lead to 6-2.
The Falcons finished the game with seven hits, but they also took advantage of four Lutheran: St. Charles errors, three walks and four hit batsmen.
"I love scoring a lot of runs with fewer hits," DeMilia said. "We ran the bases well, we stole seven bases today, and that makes a big difference. We were constantly getting guys in motion and getting them into scoring position."
Bax helped his own cause with an RBI double down the left-field line in the sixth, while Salmons doubled down the right-field line on a 3-0 pitch in the seventh to score another run for the Falcons.
Salmons, hit from the No. 8 spot in the order, finished the game 3-for-4 with a single, two doubles and two RBI.
"He puts a lot of pressure on himself," DeMilia said. "At first, he was an everyday starter, and then he's been platooning a little bit.
"He just needs to stay relaxed. He's got a really good swing."
In the 30-hour span of the Capital City Invitational, Blair Oaks played four ranked teams: Helias (No. 2 in Class 4), Russellville (No. 2 in Class 2), Hickman (No. 2 in Class 5) and Lutheran: St. Charles (No. 7 in Class 4).
The Falcons, ranked No. 6 in Class 3, finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.
"We knew we had our hands full with this tournament," DeMilia said. " I was very disappointed with our first game (Friday), but I think in every game in this tournament, we got better.
"More important than the 2-2 (record) is just getting better every game, and I think we are."
Lutheran: St. Charles dropped to 8-5 with the loss, going 1-3 in the tournament.
Blair Oaks (7-4) hosts Fulton at 5 p.m. Monday for its fifth game in four days. The Falcons also play in the Columbia Tournament starting Thursday.
"We'll go play Monday and get it rolling again," DeMilia said.