CLINTON, La. — As the sun was setting on the Oak Hill Academy baseball team’s season Thursday, coach Marion Bratton watched his players pack their gear and head to the team buses.
The Raiders had just lost to Silliman Institute 6-0 in Game 2 of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA championship series. Silliman’s players, coaches, friends, and family celebrated their championship in the background.
“We had a great season,” Bratton said, a second-place medal dangling from his neck. “We’re glad we’re here. There are few who have options to play for No. 1 or No. 2 and we’re still here. And we got a medal and a nice trophy and we got some outstanding memories out of it.”
Wildcat left-hander Darian Tunstall pitched the second-straight one-hitter against Oak Hill Academy, striking out nine. Senior Jordan Talley had similar success in a 4-1 one-hit triumph in Game 1 Tuesday in West Point. One run and three hits in 14 innings won’t win many baseball games.
“We ran into the best pitching we’ve seen all year, the most consistent pitching for sure,” said Bratton, whose squad finished 16-9. “Like I say, good pitching trumps good hitting most of the time.”
Meanwhile, his team struggled with costly mistakes. Starting pitcher Drew Riley only allowed five hits and struck out two, but he hit four and walked two. Combined with five fielding errors, Silliman Institute was able to capitalize on its scoring chances.
“Maybe my kids were all scrapped out. They’ve scrapped and fought hard all season,” Bratton said. “The last three or four weeks, we’ve been rotating our defense around and we had to scrape enough firepower at the end of our lineup just to get us to the top. It’s been a heck of a ride.”
The Raiders opened each of the first two innings with walks, but failed to capitalize as Tunstall notched four strikeouts.
Silliman Institute managed a run in the first after the leadoff hitter reached on a throwing error that seemed to rattle Riley, who then walked Talley and hit batters with consecutive pitches, scoring the run.
The Wildcats added another run in the second after the leadoff hitter was again hit by a pitch, advanced on a single to third and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders’ only real threat came in the third. With one out, Tunstall hit consecutive batters and a sacrifice moved them into scoring position. But he enticed cleanup hitter Ken Dill into a groundout to end the threat.
Silliman Institute padded its lead with another run in the bottom of the third. Neither team threatened in the fourth or fifth, and after the Raiders were retired in the top of the sixth, Silliman scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the frame.
After the Raiders were retired in order in the seventh, Silliman Institute players, coaches, and fans swarmed the field to celebrate the triumph. The teams exchanged congratulatory handshakes and then Oak Hill Academy’s players and coaches were awarded their second-place medals and trophy.
“This is the seventh or eighth time we’ve played for second in my 22 years at Oak Hill,” Bratton said. “But that’s OK. I got a chance to hang out with some pretty great guys, and that’s the important thing. It’s been a hell of a ride.”
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