Oak Ridge eliminates Mesquite Horn in 2
War Eagles roll behind offense, post 5-inning win
OAK RIDGE NORTH — The tarp was on the field before the game at Oak Ridge High School, but the only thing raining from the sky Friday night were home runs that lifted the War Eagles to victory and into the area round of the baseball playoffs.
Oak Ridge’s slugging duo of Chase Roberts and Logan Letney each homered, and five players contributed RBIs in a 12-2 five-inning victory over Mesquite Horn.
The District 12-6A champion War Eagles (21-8) took the best-ofthree series thanks to Thursday’s 10-2 victory over the Jaguars (18-12-1), who ended the year on a four-game slide.
Roberts and Letney combined to go 7-for-7 at the plate. Letney hit a towering two-run homer in the third inning that collided with the light pole beyond the wall. Roberts added a walkoff two-run blast.
“I’m real proud of them,” Oak Ridge coach Mike Pirtle said. “That’s the meat of our order.”
Roberts was 4-for-4 with three doubles before ending the game. His double in the second and in the third inning brought in runs to give him four RBIs.
“I was really comfortable,” Roberts, a University of Texas signee, said. “Coming back from yesterday, we had a lot of fun.”
Letney drove in the first run of the game in the first on a single to left field on which Roberts’ courtesy runner Cole Rollins scored. The TCU commit scored three runs and totaled three RBIs.
Add cleanup hitter James Starnes to the mix and the heart of the order can rest easy after a big night. Starnes had an RBI single in the second inning a night after going 3-for-3 with three RBIs in Game 1.
“Those three guys backto-back-to-back, they swing well,” Pirtle said.
Kevin Skweres made it 3-0 in the first inning with a two-run single. Will Cardin added an RBI single in the second. Austin Brown scored a run on a balk.
The War Eagles finished with 13 hits and had 27 in the series.
“We saw such good pitching in our district,” Pirtle said. “(Horn) had a couple really good kids, but I thought we were right with them because we’ve already seen that. It’s going to get tougher the next round. That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
Roberts pitched all five innings for the win. He allowed a run in the second inning on an RBI single by Ivory Martin. Zach Demars hit a solo homer in the third. Roberts struck out three and gave up three hits.
Oak Ridge awaits the winner of Dallas Jesuit and Rowlett. Dallas Jesuit won Game 1 on Thursday, but Game 2 of the series was rained out Friday and will be played at 11 a.m. Saturday.