RUSSELLVILLE It was a game that had a little bit of everything.
Big innings and blown leads. Home runs and infield singles. Plenty of walks and strikeouts. And a very strong wind blowing toward left field.
In the end, the final margin was the same as last year’s meeting between the Russellville Indians and the Blair Oaks Falcons: one run.
Tuesday was a good day to be outdoors for the Blair Oaks baseball team. “It was good, especially with the weather the way it’s been,” Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said after going 1-1-1 in a Jamboree at Vivion Field. “We haven’t seen a ground ball outside in like a week, we haven’t seen a fly ball in a week. We’ve been hitting in a cage inside.”
The previous two postseason matchups between the Blair Oaks Falcons and the Fatima Comets had been instant classics. The Falcons made sure Tuesday night’s Class 4 District 8 Tournament semifinal game was more one-sided. Wil Libbert pitched a one-hitter through six innings and Blair Oaks piled on five runs in the bottom of the third inning to pull away to a 7-0 win against Fatima at Southern Boone High School.
The Cavaliers kept adding on. Capital City scored multiple runs in each of the final four innings Monday to beat the Blair Oaks Falcons 10-3 at Capital City High School. The win marks the fifth in a row for the Cavaliers, while ending a three-game winning streak for the Falcons, who have now won five of their last seven games.
With second place in the Tri-County Conference on the line, it wasn’t the Blair Oaks Falcons’ best effort Tuesday night, but it was enough to get the win at the Falcon Athletic Complex. The California Pintos led through the first two innings, but Blair Oaks scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 6-4 win.