Desert Oasis shows midseason hitting form in opening-day win
It’s not that Desert Oasis’ baseball team was unhappy about winning a 1-0 pitchers’ duel on opening day Thursday. It’s just that the Diamondbacks knew the bats would come around soon.
So in the second game, they flexed their muscles.
Desert Oasis tallied 13 hits, drew eight walks and scored seven runs in the third inning of a 16-6 home victory over Green Valley in the Diamondback Kickoff Tournament. Parker Schmidt finished a home run shy of the cycle for the winners.
“I think the first-game jitters were kind of there in the first one, and we kind of relaxed a little bit and got the bats going in the third inning,” coach Paul Buboltz said. “We kind of rolled from there.”
The Diamondbacks (2-0) drew only a walk in the first two innings, then everything came alive when pitcher Izzy Gutierrez led off the third with a single. Every player in the lineup either scored or had an RBI, including Chaison Miklich, who scorched a double into left field to drive in Schmidt, who had knocked in a run with a single.
Schmidt also doubled in the fourth, then hit a two-run triple in the sixth after just pulling a ball with home run distance foul.
“I’ll take a triple any day,” Schmidt said. “It’s great to score 16.”
Miklich, Jason Sharman, and Aaron Roberts each had two RBIs and two runs for the Diamondbacks. Cole Schaefer scored twice, Zac Czerniawski had a double and two RBIs, and No. 9 hitter Jordan DeMarce went 2-for-2 with three runs, a triple and a walk.
Jake Empey and Callan Hermansen each doubled and scored for the Gators (0-2).
“We were seeing them pretty well today,” Buboltz said.
It was a contrast from the first game, when Roberts’ solo home run in the sixth accounted for the scoring and Josh Sharman twirled a three-hit shutout.
“We were jittery the first game, but after that we were fine,” Schmidt said. “It’s good to have a 2-0 start.”
Contact Justin Emerson at jeme