By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

Just when members of the Oakville Amer-ican Legion baseball team thought they had turned the corner this season, they stumbled Sunday evening in a 7-6 loss to Maryland Heights.

“There are certain losses that you take that are difficult to swallow and I would say that this is definitely one of them,” Head Coach Ryan Hetzer told the Call. “The big story of the game was that as soon as they brought in their left-hander, it pretty much shut us down.”

Oakville (15-12, 6-3 District 10) had a strong weekend with a 12-4 win over Le-may and a 8-4 decision over Crestwood despite the loss to Maryland Heights.

“It’s been a nice week and we really turned things around,” Hetzer said. “We feel as if we’re beginning to come together as a team. That’s why this one (loss to Maryland Heights) is maybe a little bit tougher to swallow because we felt as if we had turned the corner and were ready to turn it on going into the last couple weeks before district playoffs.”

Against Maryland Heights, Oakville found itself down 1-0 after the top of the first inning until third baseman Jimmy Hurst singled in outfielder Chris Pan-opoulos to tie the game at one run each.

Oakville brought the score to 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning as Hurst scored from third base on a wild pitch. Outfielder Ken Meyer gave Oakville a 3-1 lead as he hammered out a single which drove in a run.

Maryland Heights tied the score at 3-3 when Kevin Rosemann hit a two-run shot in the top of the fourth inning. But Hurst once again was on fire at the plate for Oakville as he drove in a run in the bottom of the fourth for a 4-3 lead.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, first baseman Andy Hecht drove in Hurst and Panopoulos, but was thrown out at second base to end the inning.

Maryland Heights would end up scoring two runs in the seventh and two runs in the top of the ninth to grab the come from behind win. Hurst, who took the mound in the eighth inning as a reliever, was branded with the loss for the evening.

Oakville starting pitcher Casey Turner was solid on the mound in his 6 2/3 innings, giving up just three runs. Turner’s recent performance on the mound definitely has caught Hetzer’s attention.

“That was his second straight good outing for us,” Hetzer said. “He had a really good start earlier in the week against Eureka and then again tonight against Maryland Heights.”

The Oakville team is scheduled to participate in the Anheuser-Busch Tourna-ment during the holiday weekend at Heine Meine Field.