Oak Grove makes most of its one hit ion Wood Bat

Oak Grove Post 379 didn’t do much with the wood bats, but it was just enough for a 3-0 win over Pekin (Ill.) Legion Red Wednesday.
Post 379 (29-13) managed only one hit, but was able to take advantage of four Pekin errors to open the American Legion Wood Bat Invitational with a win at Grain Valley High School.
While Oak Grove was having a hard time finding hits, Oak Grove pitcher Milan Pleacher kept Pekin frustrated too. Pleacher was dominant in the complete-game victory, allowing just three hits while striking out 10.
Pleacher said he was trying to pound the strike zone knowing the wood bats would be harder to get cheap hits with.
“It feels a lot different (pitching to wood bats), you can pretty much throw it right down the middle,” Pleacher said. “Before the game coach (Dave) Richards told me to just go out there and throw strikes, and that is pretty much all I did.”
Pleacher opened the game by striking out the last two hitters of the first inning and never looked back. Pekin had a hard time getting any wood on the ball, as Pleacher struck out the side in both the third and sixth innings.
“No walks are the big thing,” Richards said. “Milan has thrown well for us all year. Ten strikeouts are nice, too, but no walks are great.”
While Pleacher kept Pekin off the board, Oak Grove needed aggressive base running and some help from its opponent to score. Post 379 scored the only runs it would need in the bottom of the third inning when David Richards’ two-out fly ball was dropped by the center fielder. The error allowed both runs to score and kept Pekin’s Andy Burks from pitching around a single and error earlier in the inning.
Oak Grove’s final run came in the fifth when the younger Richards walked, stole second and third and then scored on a passed ball.
“When you’re not getting any hits you have to try to make your own way,” said Richards, the 2009 Grain Valley High School graduate. “That’s what we were trying to do a little bit.”