Oak Mountain grabs first area win in rivalry battle with Chelsea

Published 6:06 pm Wednesday, April 12, 2023

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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

CHELSEA – Trying to avoid falling into a 0-3 hole in area play, the Oak Mountain baseball team picked up a crucial win on Tuesday, April 11, and it came against rival Chelsea.

The Eagles trailed 1-0 through three innings of play, but they scored two in the fourth to take the lead and outscored the hornets 5-2 from there on to pick up a 7-3 victory.

More impressive, Oak Mountain gave up just one hit, outhitting the Hornets 12-1 in the victory. A big reason for that success was a strong one-two punch on the mound of Matthew Heiberger and Nicholas McCord.

Heiberger got the start and pitched the first four innings, allowing one run on four walks with no hits. He struck out eight and picked up the win, while McCord followed by finishing off the final three innings and striking out three while giving up one hit and two walks.

Chelsea struck first in the bottom of the first with a wild pitch, which became the only run in the first three innings.

Oak Mountain, however, responded with a two-run fourth to gain the lead thanks to a double from Heiberger, an RBI triple from Kevin Jasinski and an RBI single from Josh Hart.

The Eagles then added one more in the top of the fifth on an RBI double from McCord to make it 3-1 through the top of the fifth.

Chelsea drew back to within a run on a sac fly in the bottom of the fifth, but from there, it was all Oak Mountain.

The Eagles scored four runs in the top of the seventh, getting more than enough insurance to complete the four-run win.

Oak Mountain got two hits each from McCord, Heiberger, Peyton Parkinson, Jasinski and Hart, while Hart led the way with three RBIs. Parkinson also had multiple RBIs with two, while McCord and Jasinski each finished with one.

Chelsea was led by Walker Thomas with a hit and two RBIs in the loss.