The Oak Hall Eagles and the Chiefland Indians line up to sing the National Anthem before the game Tuesday.

Oak Hall Baseball Walks It Off Against Chiefland

Curan Ahern February 28, 2024 Baseball, Chiefland, Gainesville, High School Sports, Oak Hall High School 152 Views

The Oak Hall Eagles survived the Chiefland Indians on Tuesday with a 9-8 walk-off win.

Grabbing The Lead

The visiting Indians (1-3) scored first on an RBI double from catcher J.R. Hudson. However, Chiefland didn’t hold the lead for long.

With a pair of walks and an error along with a sacrifice fly from Oak Hall’s starting pitcher Jack Steen, the Eagles (2-1) answered with two runs in the first inning to lead 2-1.

Chiefland Gets The Bats Hot

In the top of the second inning the Indians came out swinging, as they scored four runs on four hits. A lead-off double from Garrett Byrd followed by two singles and a two-RBI triple from Saia Wilson scored three for the Indians.

Wilson then scored from third after tagging up on a foul pop-out that left nobody covering home plate. The Indians entered both the third and fourth inning leading 5-2 before Oak Hall answered in the fourth.

Eagles Claw Back

Oak Hall batter Ethan Szlachetka takes a pitch from Chiefland pitcher Trevor Gulledge.

An infield single by Ethan Szlachetka followed by a Troy Freeman walk in the bottom of the fourth inning set the table for a Gavin Jones RBI single that started a rally for the Eagles.

With two men on base, Eagles catcher Brody Beaupre laid down a bunt that Indians pitcher Trevor Gulledge threw past the third basemen to bring another run across for Oak Hall.

The Eagles continued to score in the fourth, adding another run on a sacrifice fly put in play by Darion Medley. Additionally, after a dropped third strike on batter Harrison Beach, the Chiefland catcher J.R. Hudson threw the ball into right field allowing two more runs to score. The game entered the fifth inning 7-5 Eagles.

Tying It Up

After a Taylor Brown single and Luke Watkins double, Chiefland was able to score a run in the fifth on a Trevor Gulledge sacrifice fly to bring the score to 7-6 Oak Hall.

The Indians tied the game 7-7 in the sixth inning on a Hudson RBI single. After keeping Oak Hall quiet through the fifth and sixth, the game entered the final inning tied at seven.

 Down To The Wire

After a lead-off walk to Taylor Brown in the top of the seventh he quickly reached third base with no outs after advancing on a wild pitch and a passed ball.

An RBI single off the bat of Luke Watkins bounced just over the head of Eagles’ closer Emory Ezzell and gave the Indians an 8-7 lead.  Ezzell was able to induce two quick pop-outs to send the game to the bottom of the seventh.

 Walk-Off Win

Oak Hall players disperse after a quick conversation with coach Kevin Maris during a time out.

With one out, Steen reached base on an infield ground ball as the first baseman was unable to stay on the bag. Szlachetka was hit by a pitch, moving the tying run into scoring position.

A wild pitch from Indians’ Taylor Brown allowed both runners to advance to second and third with two outs. Chiefland intentionally walked Gavin Jones to bring up catcher Brody Beaupre.

With two outs, bases loaded and down to his last strike Beaupre hit a hard groundball to the right of the Chiefland second baseman, who bobbled the baseball, and, with the speedy Szlachetka running on contact, he was able to score from second base.

Up Next

The Eagles visit Mount Dora Christian Academy (3-1) for a 6 p.m. game Friday. Chiefland visits Dixie County for a 7 p.m. game Tuesday.

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