CAMDENTON, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons badly wanted to open their baseball season Saturday, evening if it did mean delaying their home opener another two-and-a-half weeks.
So the Falcons shifted their games against St. Elizabeth and Camdenton down south on Highway 54 to Camdenton, where they went 1-1. Blair Oaks won the first game 2-1 in eight innings against St. Elizabeth, then lost 13-5 to Camdenton.
"There were some bright spots," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. " We wanted to win both games, but if we lose a game, we lose a game. It doesn't matter right now. We've got to get ready for May. There was a lot of learning going on today."
The Falcons were able to get seven pitchers some work - three against St. Elizabeth, four against Camdenton.
"Our plan was to use six pitchers," DeMilia said. "We threw too many pitches and walked too many guys. We had a certain number we wanted to keep all the pitchers on, and when they started to get close to it, we took them out."
Ian Nolph threw the first 3 innings against St. Elizabeth, allowing a run in the third while striking out three. Gavin Wekenborg got a groundout to first base to end the fourth, then followed with three scoreless innings of relief, finishing with five strikeouts.
"We put him in a situation with two on and two out, and he got us out of there," DeMilia said of Wekenborg, who was credited with the win. "Today, he was really good, competed and kept his composure. He had a good mindset and competed hard."
Blair Oaks scored first against St. Elizabeth. Wil Libbert reached on an error, stole second base, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Levi Haney to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
"If you can manufacture runs like that in a game you know is going to be low-scoring, that's huge," DeMilia said.
Through seven innings, the Falcons' Nos. 1-3 hitters were 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts. They redeemed themselves in the eighth inning, as Hayden Salmons blooped a one-out double down the left-field line and scored on a single by Lane Libbert to retake the lead 2-1.
Cade Stockman walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the eighth, but he got a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to pick up the save for the Falcons.
Blair Oaks defeated St. Elizabeth (0-3) despite striking out 17 times.
"Both of St. Elizabeth's pitchers were good," DeMilia said of Brock Lucas and Dylan Wobbe. "They were tough. We weren't quite ready for them."
Blair Oaks scored twice in the top of the first inning and led 3-2 against Camdenton after three innings. However, the wheels fell off in a nine-run fourth inning for the Lakers, who bunted twice in the inning and reached on errors to extend the inning.
"That's on me," DeMilia said. "We haven't practiced that enough. We just haven't had a chance to practice our bunt defense as much as we need to."
Camdenton, which led 9-3 through four innings, added four runs in the next two innings to build an eight-run lead. However, the Lakers stranded the bases loaded in each inning, as the Falcons forced a full seven-inning game.
Nolph drew three walks, scored three runs and added an RBI single from the leadoff spot, having a hand in four of his team's five runs.
"He's a not a typical leadoff hitter, but he's a guy that gets on base and makes things happen," DeMilia said. "That's why we have him there."
Wil Libbert struck out eight batters in 2 innings against Camdenton (3-0). He also had the only mulithit game for the Falcons, finishing with a single and a double to go with a sacrifice fly.
"He had good at-bats," DeMilia said. "He looked really good at the plate, looked comfortable. Technically, those were his first high school games, even though he's played a lot of competitive ball."
Cale Willson, Josh Isaacs and Holden Brand each struck out two batters in relief of Wil Libbert.
Blair Oaks (1-1) will play Monday at New Bloomfield, then face the Jefferson City Jays on Wednesday at Vivion Field.
"We've got a pretty full week, and that's what we want," DeMilia said. "We just have to get in a rhythm and start playing some more. Once that happens, we'll be in good shape."