Phoenix baseball breaks into conference win side

It has been a long time coming, but coach Lynn Gray was all smiles last Wednesday.

His big junior starting pitcher, Mason Smith, had just scattered 11 hits and fanned 8 in a complete game victory over the Brooklyn Hurricanes, 9-6.

Gray was quick to laud his team's performance - its first conference win in the two years Gray has been at the helm.

"I'm really proud of these guys. After battling through some close losses in tough conference games recently, they really put together an excellent game today. Smitty had a couple strikeouts in the clutch and the defense shut down an early Hurricane rally when (Zach) Walsh, (Erickson) Andrews and (Duane) Pretlow turned a nice double-play to get us out of an inning. Of course you have to score some runs to win, and that's where (junior catcher Daniel) Mihna's two-run homer in the first was the highlight of our six-run inning," he said.

The big six-run first got the Phoenix going and they never looked back. Tacking on another run in the second and two more in the fourth, Oberlin led wire-to-wire. Contributing to the offense were Walsh with three hits (two of them doubles), Drew Randleman with two, and Jaron Hicks with three RBIs.

Possibly more threatening to the Phoenix's potential victory were the ominous storm clouds overhead and dust clouds blown about by the gusty winds. However, the precipitation held off long enough for Oberlin to close out the win.

A quick check of the record-books showed the Phoenix win over Brooklyn broke a Patriot Conference losing skid that dated back to the 2006 team. That team, led by current Oberlin College outfielder Max Phinney, racked up four conference wins that season.

Oberlin also squared off against conference foes Columbia and Lutheran West last week coming up short both times, dropping 16-2 and 10-0 decisions, respectively. In non-conference action, despite leading early, injury and pitching woes doomed the Phoenix as they fell 15-9 to Open Door.

The 1-3 week put the team's record at 6-14 overall, 1-11 in conference. This week, the Phoenix closed the conference schedule, hosting conference foe Clearview on Monday. Then on Wednesday, Oberlin travels to face Keystone in the opening round of the state tournament (sectional), first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.