ENDICOTT – It’s not a good bet for the defense to put a .550 hitter at the plate with the bases loaded. Chances are, he’ll come through with an RBI-producing hit better than half the time.
Cooperstown did just that, and Oxford senior Steve Locke made the Redskins pay Tuesday afternoon hitting a game-winning, two-run single with one out in the bottom of the seventh to send the Blackhawks to the Class C state semifinals.
“I was glad and not so glad to get a second chance,” Locke said. “I wouldn’t have had a second chance if I didn’t give up the two runs (in the top of the seventh). But I was happy to get another chance to redeem myself.”
Oxford plays at 10 a.m. this Saturday against an undetermined opponent at Sylvester Field in Endicott, and is two wins from the school’s first state baseball championship.
“When they took the lead, none of our guys hung their heads, and that’s just our senior leadership here,” said Oxford coach Chris Palmer.
Locke and the Blackhawks battled back from the one-run deficit after a “Liner” nearly spoiled their victory hopes. That “Liner” was freshman Kyle Liner, who had the perfect retort to his bases-loaded groundout in the fifth – not unlike Locke’s predicament – to end his team’s scoring threat. Liner returned to the plate with the bags full again, and he lashed a solid single down the left field line to move his club ahead by a run.
Oxford, though, showed the mettle of an experienced varsity baseball team with clutch hits abound. Robert Amor singled to lead off the seventh, and was taken out for pinch-runner Josh Jordan. Pat Wade doubled to left-center on a 0-2 pitch putting the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position. After a Jake Vincent out, Locke hit his second walk-off game-winner in the playoff season.
Just two innings earlier, Locke was at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. After working the count against Cooperstown pitcher Philip Pohl, he check swung and was called out on strikes to end the inning. It was a rare strikeout for Locke, who hit a walk-off homer to beat Edison, and smacked a two-run homer against Candor in the Section IV finals last week.
