Baseball

Oxford 3, Thomas A. Edison 2

OXFORD – Lack of patience proved to be a good thing.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Oxford senior Steve Locke launched the first offering from Edison hurler Alik Brown over the centerfielder’s head. Locke circled the bases for the winning run giving Oxford a Class C playoff win, and it sets up a semifinals matchup at Elmira Notre Dame Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Locke had not enjoyed a great deal of success against the Spartans left with a groundout and a walk in his two previous plate appearances. “I was just looking to hit a line drive, and then let Ben (Burdick) do the damage behind me,” Locke said after the game. It was his first homer of the season, and he was carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates afterward.”

Brown proved crafty if not dominant working out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth. He fanned pinch-hitter Robert Amor, then retired Pat Wade to end the threat. It was Brown’s second look at the Oxford lineup in as many seasons. A year ago, he picked up the win in the playoffs to end the Blackhawks’ season. “Brown is a legitimate Division One college prospect,” said oxford coach Chris Palmer. “You may not have seen it today, but he has to be one of the top five pitchers in our section. I think you would have a hard time finding five pitchers better than him.”

Edison jumped out to a 2-0 lead scoring a pair of unearned runs off Locke. Devin Burch singled, and an infield error set up Zach Levanduski’s two-run single. It was the lone hard-hit ball off Locke all day, who gave up six hits, but four were of the infield hit variety.

Burdick finished 2-for-2 and drove in Pat Wade on a single in the first. Burdick followed that up with an RBI single in the third to plate Jake Vincent.

The win snaps Oxford’s two-game losing streak, and Palmer knew it would have left a sour taste in his team’s mouth to finish the season with three straight losses. “We knew this game would be a battle, but again, it’s the senior leadership that has got us through,” Palmer said. “I think having the first-round bye and not having to play on Thursday helped us out. We were able to work more on our hitting, and we brought in some hard throwers to try and simulate the velocity of Brown.”

Oxford improved to 18-4 with the victory.

Score by innings

TAE 200 000 0 2 6 2

Oxf. 101 000 1 3 6 4

Steve Locke (W) and Jake Vincent. Alik Brown (L) and Nick Karski. HR: (O) Steve Locke.

Cherry Valley-Springfield 2, G-MU 0