Baseball: Wildcats play Halls again in district tournament at Karns

 

KARNS—Oak Ridge stayed alive in the District 3-AAA baseball tournament with a 7-5 win over Clinton at Karns on Monday, and the Wildcats advanced to play Halls in a losers bracket today (Tuesday, May 9).

It’s the second time in three days that Oak Ridge will play Halls. The Wildcats lost to the Red Devils 8-0 in a first-round game on Sunday.

Halls (17-12) was bumped into the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament with a 2-1 loss to Karns on Monday.

Today’s game starts at 5:30 p.m. on Coach Dwight Smith Field at Karns High School. The season is over for the loser. The winner advances to play Karns (25-8) at 8 p.m. today.

The Monday night game between Oak Ridge and Clinton was scoreless until the third inning, when the Wildcats opened up a 5-0 lead.

Two innings later, the Dragons responded with five runs of their own, tying the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth inning.

Seth Caldwell scored the diving go-ahead run for Oak Ridge in the bottom of the sixth inning when Clinton hesitated on a throw to first base after a hit by Logan Williams. Jaycen McGhee added an insurance run for the Wildcats on a single into center field by Ian Campbell.

Campbell, a junior, threw 89 pitches for the Wildcats in five full innings, and he allowed five runs in the fifth inning. Under a new pitch count rule, Campbell will have to take three days off from pitching.

Caldwell, who took an extra base twice during the game, threw 22 pitches, meaning he can start today against Halls. Those 22 pitches came in two innings, which is an efficient 11 pitches per inning. The goal is 12 pitches per inning, and anything below that is considered good, Oak Ridge Coach Mark Garrison said.

The Wildcats will need three wins to get to the district championship. The top two teams from the district tournament advance to the Region 2-AAA tournament.

Oak Ridge may need a freshman pitcher to finish the game today, Garrison said. Two options will be Chris Van Hook and Bryson Caldwell.

Before Campbell pitched Monday against Clinton, Logan Williams (55 pitches) and Ben Aird (81) both threw Sunday in the first game against Halls.

Highlights of the Oak Ridge-Clinton game on Monday were a two-out, two-RBI double by senior Brice Mlekodaj, hits by Campbell and Caldwell, and a big infield hit by McGhee, coaches said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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