Oak Hall Baseball Dominates Season Opener At Eastside

The reigning district champion Oak Hall Eagles had a decisive 20-2 victory against the Eastside Rams on Monday.

After another regionals appearance last year, coach Kevin Maris was proud of the way his team started the baseball season. Maris said the Eagles lost about eight players through graduation, so they’re relatively a young team this year. Regardless, Maris thought his players “swung the bat really well” and had a solid pitching performance.

“You don’t really know what you’re going to have first game out of the box,” Maris said, “and I was proud of the way the guys played. They came out [and] got after it from the first inning and kept pressure.”

Commanding The First Inning

Oak Hall (1-0) came out swinging in the first inning. Senior Gavin Jones hit a three-run home run following two walks. Jones finished 3-for-3 with five runs batted in.

Eastside’s pitcher struggled in the inning with multiple walks and hit batters. Oak Hall took advantage by scoring 10 runs.

Oak Hall starts off strong with a 11-0 lead over Eastside after a home run from Gavin Jones in the first inning. pic.twitter.com/ecPUjGbZBW

— Addisyn Boatright (@addiboatright) February 10, 2025

Slower Second And Third Innings

The Eagles slowed down slightly by just scoring five runs in the second and third innings for a 15-0 lead. However, they still had some impressive plays. After two outs, junior Graham Rosenstone hit a two-run double to put the Eagles up 12-0 entering the bottom of the third inning.

Freshman pitcher Brayden Farmer had back-to-back strikeouts to swiftly end the second and preventing any runs from Eastside.

Eastside substituted multiple pitchers throughout the game, but it was senior Nate Green-Rodriguez who held Oak Hall to just two runs in the third inning.

A memorable moment in the game was when Jones advised the younger Farmer who was up to bat. After hitting a couple of foul balls, Jones told him to “get on top,” and Farmer connected with the pitch, hitting a single to bring in the first run for the Eagles that inning.

Farmer and Jones later turned a double play to end the bottom of the third inning up 15-0.

Nail In Coffin

Eastside (0-1) had some miscommunication in the top of the fourth and the Eagles capitalized. Junior Aaron Akins and sophomore Owen Lichstein each steal home to put the Eagles up 17-0. After a couple more runs, Oak Hall had a 20-0 lead to invoke the run rule if the Rams did cut into the large margin.

Oak Hall sophomore Bo Kuzmicki pitched the bottom of the fourth, when the Rams finally got on the board after Homer Murphy stole home and another run scored for a 20-2 deficit. Kuzmicki ended the game with a strikeout. He and Farmer combined for eight strike outs and two hits allowed.

The Eagles completed the impressive start by not committing an error.

Post-game interview with Oak Hall baseball head coach Kevin Maris after winning their season opener against the Eastside Rams 20-2. (audio improves around 10 seconds) pic.twitter.com/D0yHFrfd38

— Jasmine Valcin (@jasmineval_06) February 11, 2025

Up Next

The Eagles host the P.K. Yonge Blue Wave (0-0) for a 4 p.m. start today. The Rams go crosstown to play at the Gainesville Hurricanes (0-0) in a 6 p.m. start today.