BY ROB DAVIS
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — After struggling from the plate in their first couple of games, The Oaks School put on a slug- fest against the Lions from The Rock Academy Thursday night at West Ridge Park in Opelika. The Mighty Oaks scored 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning and seven runs in the bottom of the third to walk away with an 18-3 victory.
“I was pleased with the way we hit the ball tonight,” The Oaks head baseball coach David Shabo said. “We did a good job waiting on the right pitch to hit and we had some very timely hits.”
The Lions took the early lead in the top of the first inning when Layton Burkett lined a single up the middle to score Landon Zani from second base. Burkett was left standing on first base as Mighty Oaks freshman pitcher Asher Johnson struck out the next batter to end the top of the first.
Johnson showed great poise and was in full command from the mound.
“Asher doesn’t pitch like a freshman,” Shabo said. “I coached him on a travel team so I’ve seen how he’s improved over time. He’s only going to get better as he grows and gets stronger.”
The Mighty Oaks opened the floodgates in the bottom of the first inning with timely hitting and aggressive base running. After reaching first on an infield single, Elisha Hallmark found his way to third base after a hit batter and a wild pitch. Hallmark scored from third after another wild pitch.
On the following pitch, Noah Shabo hit a laser shot up the middle that brought two more home.
Hallmark came to the plate again in the same inning and singled to put two men on base. Frank Huguley brought both players home when he ripped a double down the third base line. Huguley would score on a wild pitch before David Rhyne brought two more home with a single to right field.
The Lions added two runs in the top of the third inning but the Mighty Oaks responded with seven runs in the bottom of the same inning.
Bryson Johnson led off with a single and moved to second after Mike Carter reached first base on a walk. Both Johnson and Carter scored when Braxton Bell singled to right field. Bell crossed the plate after a single by Holden Hill who scored from first when Hallmark blasted a triple between left and center field.
“This was a great win for us coming right before our spring break,” Shabo said. “We’ll have a couple of practices over the break and hopefully use this game for momentum.”
The Mighty Oaks will resume play when they host Lafayette Christian on March 17 at 5:30 p.m. at West Ridge Park.
