It has been 11 years since Oak Grove last toasted a state championship in baseball, and that hasn’t set well with longtime head coach Chris McCardle.
This season, the Warriors are hoping this is the year they finally break through for what would be their 13th state title, and so far, it looks like they are headed in the right direction.
OG built a big early lead and that was enough to hold off Northwest Rankin 10-6 on Thursday night in a key contest in Region 3-7A at Harry Breland Field.
The victory completed a sweep of the two-game region series and kept the Warriors (17-4 overall) undefeated in region play at 6-0. The Cougars dropped to 8-12-1 and 2-4.
“It’s been 11 long years, but I think this team has what it takes,” said McCardle. “Honestly, we’ve had some teams like this. (The) COVID year (2020) we had a team we thought could win it. And we got beat out by these guys in South State three years ago.
“We’ve been bitten by the injury bug the last four years. We’re always missing a piece that we truly needed to play with and beat those kinds of teams. But our kids are fun to coach. They come ready to play, and we’ve got some good players.”
Certainly, Oak Grove came out of the box on fire, scoring nine runs in the first two innings behind senior right-hander Gage Thompson, who improved to 5-0.
“Honestly, I feel like it was a mix between my change-up and my curveball,” said Thompson. “I feel like I can throw it in any count. It’s really amazing how it turned out tonight.”
After Thompson retired NWR in order to open the game, the Warriors wasted no time getting to Cougar starter Gabe Hodges (2-5) in the bottom of the first inning.
Junior Eric Booth Jr., who came into the game with a .507 batting average, showed why when he easily beat out a slow roller just inside the first-base line to lead off the inning.
Hodges had Booth picked off, but the throw skipped under the glove of the first baseman, and Booth scampered all the way to third on the play. After sophomore Kendrell Roberts drew a walk, the two runners executed a delayed double steal to score the first run of the game.
Senior Mac McDaniel followed by smoking a scorcher to the wall in right-centerfield to drive in Roberts, and two wild pitches from the clearly-rattled Hodges got McDaniel home to make it 3-0.
“We had Gage on the mound to start it off for us,” said McDaniel. “Everybody’s going to feel confident with him out there. I just had my approach working and I was seeing the ball well. This was definitely a good team win.
“EJ starting it off like that with the infield hit just builds momentum. The whole lineup came to hit tonight.”
OG made it 4-0 with senior Maddox Miller singled with one out, took second on a single by sophomore Andrew Kelly, went to third on a grounder to second and scored on another wild pitch.
The Warriors then broke the game wide-open with five runs in the second, and again, it was the top of the order that did most – but not all – of the damage.
“Yeah, they’re pretty good,” said McCardle. “They’ve all been playing together since they were freshmen. It’s their time now, and this is one of those teams we’ve been looking for.”
Thompson, batting in the 9-hole, beat out a high bouncing grounder to shortstop to open the inning, then Booth drew a walk, signaling an end to Hodges’ night.
Senior right-hander Dalton Pixley came on for the Cougars, but was greeted quite rudely. Roberts singled up the middle to load the bases, and McDaniel sent the next pitch into the gap in left-centerfield to clear those bases and give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.
“Bases are loaded, and you have a job to do right there,” said McDaniel. “Three-hole hitter, you’ve got to do your job. I was sitting on a curve. After hitting my first double on a fastball, I knew they were going to come back with a curveball, and I was just sitting on it.”
Senior Eli Wheat singled, sending McDaniel to third, and both runners scored on a two-out, two-run single by senior Bryson Chapman.
At that point, it looked like a run-rule victory was imminent. But OG squandered a couple of chances to add to its lead in the third and fourth innings, and that gave the Cougars a chance to right their ship and make it competitive.
In the third, Booth drew a leadoff walk, but was thrown out at second trying to steal. The Warriors also got the first two batters on in the fourth, but a double play kept them from cashing in on the opportunity.
“We came out of the gate ready to go, but after we got the big lead, we just sat on it and didn’t really do anything,” said McCardle. “Tip your hat to their guys. They kept fighting, and that got me nervous, I’ll be honest.
“But I’m proud of Gage. He hung in there and got it done for us.”
It didn’t come without some late-inning struggles, however, as the Cougars began to get the measure of Thompson. NWR didn’t get its first hit until the fourth, but before it was over, they had 10 hits and scored six runs, two in the fifth and four in the seventh.
Still, Thompson made it to the finish, striking out seven and walking just two in 111 pitches. His 5-0 record compliments that of Miller, who improved to 7-0 after getting the win in Tuesday’s 4-1 win at Flowood.
“It’s a good 1-2 punch,” said McCardle. “I probably left him in there a couple of batters too long. But he wanted to stretch it out some, and he felt like he could get the job done.”
Oak Grove did add a run in the bottom of the sixth, when McDaniel smacked his third double of the game to the wall in right field to lead off. He took third on a flyout to right and scored on Northwest Rankin’s fourth error of the game.
“Besides my curveball and a change-up, I threw a slider more toward the end, after they started hitting me,” said Thompson. “The fastball was working as well, four-seam and two-seam, and I’m working on a little cutter, and a sinker as well.
“You’ve just got to put (the big lead) out of your mind and focus on what you need to do to get the job done. Just the next pitch, the next hitter.”
Oak Grove has just four regular-season games remaining, but they’re the four biggest of the season: two next week against Brandon and two the following week against Petal. The Warriors will host the Bulldogs on Tuesday in their next game.
“There are a lot of good teams in 7A, and it’s wide-open,” said McCardle. “We’ve still got Brandon, and Petal’s really good. Then, you’ve got to go through them again in the playoffs, along with Ocean Springs or whoever comes out of the Coast.
“We’ve just worry about what we do and keep getting better.”
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