The Oxford baseball team had a sub-par performance this week, losing two games while winning one until its finish was delayed.
The Wildcats lost to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s on April 27, by a final score of 8-1. Starting pitcher Bryan Mattack would receive the loss on the mound, giving up six of his eight runs in the final three innings. The only run scored by Oxford came in the top of the seventh, when sophomore shortstop Tim Shafto scored after a wild pitch.
On April 29, Oxford returned home to play the Brandon Blackhawks with much the same results. The Wildcats came out on the losing end of a 17-8 decision.
The Blackhawks’s bats exploded against the Wildcats, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, three runs in the second, four runs in the third and erupting for eight runs in the top of the sixth.
Although the Wildcats did not play well defensively, their own bats were not silent. Oxford’s Ryan Stull hit a three run double in the bottom of the third, but the real offensive star was junior Mike Jones, who came alive in the bottom of the fifth to nail a grand slam out of the ballpark in his first at-bat of the game after replacing Brad Dugan.
In game two against Brandon, the Wildcats were ahead by a score of 21-10 when the game was postponed in the bottom of the fourth. The remainder of the game was played on May 3, but results were unattainable.
At the point when the game was stopped on April 29, every Oxford batter had scored at least one run, with the exception of Brad Dugan, who did record an RBI. David Fisher had six RBIs and four runs scored, Brett Brammer had five RBIs and was on his way to hit for the cycle, scoring a single, double and a triple when the game was called.
Following the conclusion of the Brandon game, the Wildcats will travel to Lapeer West on May 6 to take on the Panthers for their first and only meeting of the season. They are then scheduled to play at Lapeer East the following Monday.
Mike Stechschulte is a junior at Oxford High School who plans to major in the field of journalism.