The Oakville Senior High School baseball team notched two big wins Saturday— 5-1 over Lindbergh and 8-6 over Northwest.
Against Lindbergh (3-4), the Tigers rode the strong pitching performance of Bubba Bradshaw, who gave up just one run on seven hits in seven innings for his third win of the season.
“It was a big start for Bubba,” Oakville head coach Rich Sturm said. “He struggled in his first two starts, but I think he’s going to continue to work on the mound and become a better pitcher.”
Lindbergh starting pitcher Andy Flett took the loss as he gave up five runs on 10 hits in 42⁄3 innings. He recorded five strikeouts while only producing one walk in his second loss of the season. He’s currently 0-2 with a 6.52 earned-run average.
“This actually was a very positive outing for Andy after being off for two weeks,” Lindbergh head coach Darin Scott said. “The majority of their hits came from when he was behind in the count.”
Dan Chambliss led the Tigers with a three-hit performance that included two runs batted in and one run scored. He is batting .385 with 10 RBI.
“Dan really worked hard in the off-season and is really driving the ball well,” Sturm said. “He’s got to be somebody that can move those runners into scoring position for us.”
The Tigers also got a three-hit performance from junior second baseman Drew Stanton, who drove in one run and scored one run. Stanton is batting .409 with seven RBI.
“In the first couple of games this season, Drew was struggling,” Sturm said. “We’ve been working with him and his batting average has gone up a few 100 points.”
Josh Werkmeister drove in the Flyers’ only run of the game with a double in the fifth inning that scored Joe Francis. Werkmeister’s RBI was his third of the season.
“Josh has been pressing a bit at the plate,” Scott said. “He sat back on that pitch and drove it down the left field line which turned out to be a big hit for us.”
In the second half of the doubleheader, the Tigers (8-0, 1-0 Suburban West) scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to get past Northwest 8-6.
“Northwest is another team that traditionally we’ve had a lot of close games against,” Sturm said. “Their kids played hard and their starting pitcher threw the ball really well.”
Northwest starting pitcher Brandon Wehking gave up eight runs on eight hits in 51⁄3 innings. He walked six batters and struck out six for his second loss of the season.
Oakville’s Drew Stanton took the no-decision on a six-hit performance that included two walks and four strikeouts.
“Drew struggled a little bit,” Sturm said. “He had trouble locating his pitches and then got behind on the count.”
The Tigers did get a solid pitching performance from reliever Bryan Doyle, who pitched the final 41⁄3 innings of the game. Doyle gave up just two runs on five hits while recording three strikeouts.
“Bryan was just outstanding this week,” Sturm said. “You could make an argument that he’s one of the most valuable players on the team.”
The Tigers are back in action at 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening when they face Mehlville (0-5) at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.
“Mehlville is a big rivalry game, so you can pretty much throw the records out the window,” Sturm said. “It’s a conference game and they’re also a district opponent. This is a game that our kids are looking forward to.”
Lindbergh will take on Francis Howell (9-0) and Cape Girardeau Central (3-6) Saturday afternoon at Jefferson College.
The Francis Howell game is scheduled for 1 p.m. while the Cape Girardeau Central game is slated for a 3 p.m. start.
“This is going to be a nice little weekend where we have the chance to get away and play an old-school doubleheader on a college field,” Scott said. “We’re really looking forward to it.”
