Oak Hall Rallies In Seventh Inning To Knock Off Trenton

Friday’s matchup between the Oak Hall Eagles and Trenton Tigers demonstrated just how unpredictable baseball can be. In a game where Trenton held the lead for all but one inning of play, Oak Hall still came out on top in the end.

The Eagles rode an offensive surge in the seventh inning to a 3-1 victory over the Tigers. Jackson Beach played hero once again for Oak Hall. He knocked out a go-ahead triple for the Eagles late in the game. Jack Kuzmicki and Neil Ruth chipped in with two hits each on the day.

Troy Freeman played a major role in Oak Hall’s victory as well. He pitched his first seven-inning game of the 2023 season and remained in control the entire time. Freeman only gave up two hits, one walk and one run on the day, striking out two batters as well.

Freeman seemingly only got hotter as the day went on. Both of Trenton’s hits and their sole walk came in the first inning. In the rest of the game, Trenton only landed two runners on base via a pair of Oak Hall errors. Freeman went on to sit down nine consecutive batters in the final three innings.

Trenton Takes An Early Lead

Oak Hall started the game quietly at the plate. In the top of the first inning, they only managed a leadoff walk from Jackson Beach. The next three batters went down on a sacrifice bunt and two strikeouts.

The Tigers got to work right away in the bottom of the first. Brant Bivens led off with a single before stealing second base. He went on to score two at-bats later via a fly ball into center from Mason Vuncannon. Following a walk in the subsequent at-bat, Vuncannon made it to third on a stolen base, but he was immediately stranded there on a fielder’s choice.

With Trenton now in the lead, Oak Hall could not muster up a response at the plate. Despite Jack Steen leading off the second inning with a walk, the Eagles went down 1-2-3 right after him. Gavin Jones sent a pop fly into center field, and the following two batters went down on strikes.

Freeman kept the Tigers off the board with three consecutive ground outs in the bottom of the second. The third inning proved to be more of the same on both sides. Neil Ruth knocked in a single to lead things off, but he was picked off at second in the following at-bat. The Eagles went down on a strikeout and another pickoff after that.

Meanwhile, the Tigers hit a fly out and a line out in their first two plate appearances of the inning. Dax Becker then hit a fly ball into right field and ended up reaching third base on an error. He wound up staying there following a ground out just two pitches into the following at-bat.

Oak Hall Cannot Connect The Dots

The Eagles finally started to garner some momentum at the plate in the fourth inning. On just the second pitch he saw in the inning, Jack Kuzmicki blasted a ball deep into right field to notch a double. He then advanced to third on a perfectly placed bunt from Darion Medley.

Another big hit from Jack Kuzmicki, as he blasts a ball deep into right field to lead off the fourth inning with a double. Darion Medley followed him up with a bunt to land runners on first and third with no outs. pic.twitter.com/qE1WLAM3um

— Jack Meyer (@jackmeyerUF) April 7, 2023

Medley also made it to first on his knock. He stole second base just three pitches later to give the Eagles men on second and third base. With no outs in the top of the fourth, Oak Hall now had two runners in scoring position. Neither of them made it home.

Scott forced a ground out to second base for out number one. He then only needed three pitches to sit down the next batter on strikes. Eventually, he forced a ground out to third to retire the side. Oak Hall still trailed 1-0.

“It’s definitely frustrating as a team to not come through in those clutch situations,” Kuzmicki said. “As a player, I like to lead by example… If I can keep hitting, hopefully, everyone else will follow behind. It didn’t work that way today, but usually, it does.”

The Eagles only allowed a single runner on base in the bottom of the fourth on a fielding error. They immediately made up for it on an impressive play from Beach at second base to catch the runner stealing. In one swift motion, he snagged the ball on the throw from Eagles’ catcher Brody Beaupre, and Beach immediately laid down the tag before the runner reached the bag.

A Battle On The Mound

Oak Hall had put together a strong defensive performance to keep the Tigers in check at the bats. In spite of this, they continued struggling to fire up their own offense, and the score stayed 1-0 after four innings.

Both pitchers dominated in the fifth inning. Trenton’s Johnny Scott forced three consecutive pop-outs on the Eagles, while Freeman struck out a pair of batters before forcing a fly out to center.

The sixth inning proved to be more of the same. Despite Kuzmicki leading off with a single for Oak Hall and reaching third on a dropped third strike for Jack Steen, Scott secured his eighth strikeout of the day to strand Kuzmicki in scoring position yet again. Meanwhile, Freeman picked up three straight on three fly balls into the Eagles outfield.

Five innings down, and Troy Freeman is only getting hotter on the mound. He strikes out a pair of Trenton batters before forcing a fly out to sit the Tigers down 1-2-3. The Eagles still trail 1-0 as we enter the sixth inning. pic.twitter.com/sJx1FaFqe7

— Jack Meyer (@jackmeyerUF) April 7, 2023

Friday’s game proved to be a duel between two pitching aces in Scott and Freeman. Interestingly enough, both pitchers have some history together. Not just as opponents, but as teammates. Scott and Freeman had previously played travel baseball with each other, and they became good friends in the process.

“We played on the same team for about seven years,” Scott said. “[We] caught for each other, pitched to each other, ran out together, all of that.”

Freeman quipped that despite his mutual brotherhood with Scott, the two remained as competitive as ever on the mound. If anything, both pitchers were looking to outdo each other in a tightly contested battle. The game ended up going down to the wire, with the Tigers holding onto a 1-0 lead at the end of the sixth inning.

Jackson Beach Gives Oak Hall Their First Lead

With the seventh inning now looming, the Eagles had yet to score a single run. Oak Hall’s high-powered offense had sputtered all game long, and if they could not piece together a run in the final inning, they would fall victim to their first shutout of the season.

Brody Beaupre took to the plate to lead things off. On the first pitch he saw, he cracked a line drive into center for a single. Two at-bats later, his pinch runner, Taylor Brown, advanced to second on a fly ball single by Neil Ruth. Now up to bat for the Eagles: Jackson Beach.

Beach is no stranger to moments like these. Just last year, in Oak Hall’s previous road matchup with Trenton, Beach hit a two-out double in the seventh inning to force the game into extra innings. The Eagles went on to win, thanks in part to his heroics. That moment served as a catalyst for Beach’s transformation into one of the cornerstones of the Oak Hall baseball program. He now had an opportunity to replicate this moment almost exactly one year later.

After letting the first two pitches he saw fly by him, Beach belted a ball along the right field line. Brown and Ruth hustled around the bases, with Beach not too far behind them. Brown scored with ease as Ruth turned the corner for third. Trenton’s catcher awaited the throw-in, but by the time the ball reached his glove, Ruth had slid into home plate. Oak Hall now led 2-1.

JACKSON BEACH IN THE CLUTCH! OH MY GOODNESS! The Eagles’ star second baseman blasts out a two-run triple to give Oak Hall their first lead of the game. With just one out on the board and Beach sitting at third, the Eagles now lead the Tigers 2-1. pic.twitter.com/JWQDJlvNHi

— Jack Meyer (@jackmeyerUF) April 7, 2023

“Two strikes [in the count], I had to shorten up and be ready for any pitch,” Beach said. “He has four or five pitches that he can really throw pretty good. I got one right over the plate with two strikes, so I hit it pretty well and ran to third… It’s just an amazing feeling to come through for your team when you’ve been struggling at the plate the whole day.”

Freeman Concludes His Complete Game

Beach wound up scoring on a wild pitch just two at-bats later to extend the lead to 3-1. It was now up to Freeman to finish off what Beach had started. With his pitch count already at 72 on the day, Freeman did not have much gas left in the tank. But he had just enough to close the game out.

Trenton’s first batter hit a ground ball right along the left-field line. As Kuzmicki made the snag at third base, there was some confusion in the Tigers dugout, as they thought the hit had gone foul. Kuzmicki, seeing the umpire had not made the call, slung the ball over to Steen at first base. The umpire called the batter out. One down, two to go.

The next batter bunted on the second pitch he saw. Once again, Kuzmicki sprang into action. He chased the ball down and made a leaning throw to Steen. The ball made it just in the nick of time. Two down, one to go.

Freeman received a gut check in the final at-bat of the game. The umpire called three straight balls to build the count out to 3-0. But if Freeman has made one thing clear this season, it is that he never loses his cool, no matter the situation. After picking up a strike, he forced the Trenton batter into a ground out to second base. Game over.

“I knew where to throw it from the second inning all the way until the end,” Freeman said. “I always have energy in me [on the mound], but my team definitely helped me.”

Looking Forward For Oak Hall

With just five games now remaining in their regular season, Oak Hall is entering the home stretch of their season. The Eagles have hit their stride at just the right time, as they currently hold on to a 12-3 record and a four-game win streak. Oak Hall Head Coach Kevin Maris remains confident in his squad’s ability to continue making noise as the postseason continues inching closer. He believes the Eagles’ efforts against the Tigers demonstrated exactly why they are such a special team.

“We were in the game from the first inning to the last inning,” Maris said. “To keep battling and never quit or get down, they’re a pretty resilient group.”

The Eagles will have some time off before their next game. They will return to the diamond on April 13 for a rematch with the Gainesville Hurricanes on the road. In their last meeting, the Eagles took home an 8-7 victory following an outstanding game from Jack Kuzmicki both at the plate and on the mound. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.