Harrison Lear News Today

The Blair Oaks offense came through when it needed to. The Falcons collected only one hit, but Warren Davis’ sixth-inning RBI single put them up for good in a 3-1 Tri-County Conference win Saturday afternoon against the Southern Boone Eagles at Vivion Field.

If a baseball team is going to play four games in less than 48 hours, it better have strong starting pitching. The Blair Oaks Falcons had strong starting pitching Friday. Harrison Lear and Jacob Tellman each allowed one run in five innings, combining for 11 strikeouts as the Falcons defeated Gateway Legacy and Lee’s Summit, each by scores of 5-1, at Vivion Field to wrap up pool play in the Jays Baseball Classic with a 2-1 record.

For the longest time, it looked like one run would be enough. Just two batters into Monday’s game, the Blair Oaks Falcons led 1-0 against the Helias Crusaders. That remained the score until Helias sent the game to extra innings with a run in the bottom of the seventh, then won it 2-1 with a run in the ninth at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex. “When it got to crunch time, we performed,” Helias coach Chris Wyrick said.

RUSSELLVILLE — It was a game that had a little bit of everything. Big innings and blown leads. Home runs and infield singles. Plenty of walks and strikeouts. And a very strong wind blowing toward left field. In the end, the final margin was the same as last year’s meeting between the Russellville Indians and the Blair Oaks Falcons: one run.

Tuesday was a good day to be outdoors for the Blair Oaks baseball team. “It was good, especially with the weather the way it’s been,” Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said after going 1-1-1 in a Jamboree at Vivion Field. “We haven’t seen a ground ball outside in like a week, we haven’t seen a fly ball in a week. We’ve been hitting in a cage inside.”

It was a rematch of last year’s district championship, but the Blair Oaks Falcons and the Father Tolton Trailblazers had a much different look Wednesday night. The result was the same, except the Trailblazers didn’t need a fourth-quarter comeback this time. Tolton nearly led wire-to-wire, locking down defensively to come away with a 56-34 victory against Blair Oaks in the semifinals of the Class 4 District 9 Tournament at Fatima High School.

In the opening few minutes of Tuesday night’s game, it looked as if the Blair Oaks Falcons had hit the snooze button on the alarm clock. When Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick called timeout with 3:38 left in the first quarter, he had a metaphorical bucket of cold water ready to wake up his players. Following the timeout, the Falcons outscored the Pintos 41-10 the rest of the first half, dominating their way to a 59-30 victory in a Tri-County Conference matchup at Blair Oaks High School.

Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick wasted no time in taking the blame for the Falcons’ loss Friday night. A technical foul was called on the Blair Oaks bench with :00.2 on the clock, and the Miller Career Phoenix sent Charles Nelson to the free-throw line with a chance to win the game. Nelson missed the first free throw, but the second attempt made its way through the net to give Miller Career a 59-58 victory at Blair Oaks High School.

With second place in the Tri-County Conference on the line, it wasn’t the Blair Oaks Falcons’ best effort Tuesday night, but it was enough to get the win at the Falcon Athletic Complex. The California Pintos led through the first two innings, but Blair Oaks scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 6-4 win.

The Southern Boone Eagles are off to a hot start. The Eagles gained a big advantage in the Tri-County Conference and Class 4 District 8 standings Tuesday, using some early offense combined with strong pitching to defeat the Blair Oaks Falcons 7-2 at the Falcon Athletic Complex. The win gives Southern Boone an 8-0 record, which includes two conference wins and three victories against district foes.