FULTON --- The Fatima Comets held a 6-5 lead over Blair Oaks in the bottom of the fourth inning Wednesday.
The Falcons were at bat with one out, nobody on. On an 0-2 count, hit batter. Ugh. Then an error, a walk and a balk --- tie game. More ughs.
So it went. This game had a lot more ughs than oohs and aahs.
These are two very good teams who played, well, a not very good game. But for the Falcons, it looks like a line drive in the box score --- and more importantly, it's a W in the win column.
In a sloppy affair, the Falcons outlasted the Comets 11-8 in the championship game of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament, as Blair Oaks secured its first district title since 2007.
"With seven seniors in the lineup, it means an awful lot to them to win this district title," Falcons coach Harv Antle said. "This is our first district title in five years and our first in Class 3.
"This is something these guys set their sites on and they just wouldn't be denied."
The bruising 2 hour, 40-minute bout had all the artistic success of a dead fish on the bank. And the fish had been there a while.
There were nine errors to go along balks, 11 walks, wild pitches and passed balls.
After the fourth, the Falcons had scored nine runs on four hits. At that point, only two of their runs were earned.
"I think you can attribute it to the intensity of the rivalry," Antle said. "Both clubs respect each other, but they might not always like each other. There was a little back and forth, even between the coaches.
"The schools are 15 miles apart, a lot of these kids grew up together, some went to school together, and they played a lot of summer ball together in the youth programs growing up. So you couldn't know each other better than these two teams do, and that just adds to the intensity.
"I think some of the sloppiness could be attributed to that; they were just bearing down and trying too hard."
Then there was the home plate umpire, who had a strike zone the size of a peach.
"The pitchers had to adjust," Antle said, "and I think the hitters on both teams did a good job of recognizing the situation and playing to the situation."
The Falcons (21-4) scored four unearned runs in the first to take a 4-0 lead, before the Comets (17-8) tied it with four runs in the second, thanks in large part to four errors.
Blair Oaks --- which will host the District 7 champ (Mexico or Moberly) in the sectionals on Tuesday --- regained a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Adam Bax.
Back came Fatima, as RBI singles by Jacob Plassmeyer and Ryan Mebruer --- who both had with two hits --- gave the Comets a 6-5 lead after three.
"We jumped out to a lead, then we lose that lead and we're playing from behind," Antle said. "But we've shown the ability to come-from-behind all year long."
They showed it again Wednesday, scoring four runs in the fourth and two in the fifth on the way to victory.
While the game featured 19 runs, there weren't many big hits. The two biggest belonged to Blair Oaks' Daniel Castillo, who had two-run singles in both the fourth and fifth frames to help the Falcons take the lead and then get some cushion.
"He's clutch," Antle said. "That's why he hits in the middle of our order. He's a very coachable kid with a lot of skill and talent."
Blair Oaks' third pitcher of the game, Brian Patten, tossed the final four innings to get the win. He allowed two run on six hits and four walks, and pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth with no damage.
"He's shown the ability to pitch in relief and not every high school kid can do that," Antle said. "He did a fantastic job ... he just kept battling."
More battles are coming.
"It's great to win a district title," Antle said, "but our guys want more. They've proven what they're capable of, so we'll see what happens."
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