Behind Bender's strong pitching, Oracles defeat Cougars 8-1

The Delphi Community High School baseball season began last week with the Oracles winning two of four games, including a win over Carroll Monday night.

They opened the season against the Class 2A third ranked Lewis Cass. The Oracles jumped out to the early lead and were up 6-0 at the end of the fifth inning. The Kings scored four runs in the sixth and added a five-run seventh inning to earn the win. Final score was 9-6.

Kyle Bender took the loss for the Oracles on the mound. Mike Myers and Kory Banes led the Oracle bats. Myers had three hits and Banes, two.

The Oracles played in the cold at Frontier High School, losing a close 6-4 contest to the 1A No. 1-ranked Falcons.

Andrew Cebulla picked up the loss on the mound. Cebulla gave up just six hits and had nine strike outs. He only gave up two earned runs. Cebulla also had a solo homerun at the plate.

On Friday the Oracles traveled to Clinton Prairie where Dustin Oliver took the mound for his first varsity start. Oliver threw a complete game, allowing only one run on three hits. Andrew Flora led the offense, going 3-4 with two runs scored. Coy Pennington also had two hits for the Oracles in the 6-1 win.

Vs. Carroll

Monday, Delphi baseball squad left Carroll with an 8-1 victory. Oracle pitcher Kyle Bender allowed just six hits and no earned runs while striking out 11 Cougar hitters.

The Oracles got on the board first in the top of the third inning when Matt Lewis singled to left.

Andrew Flora sacrificed him to second. Kory Banes then had a single to right and the ball ended up in the middle of the field. Banes ran for second because no one was covering the bag and Lewis scampered home. Myers followed with a single, followed by Andrew Cebulla with another single. Coy Pennington hit a double down the right field line to score Myers and Cebulla.

In the fourth, the Oracles kept the pressure on. Braden Atwood reached on an error and was moved to third by Gerran Wilson's at bat. Atwood scored on another fielding miscue by the Cougars on Lewis's at bat. Lewis stole second and scored on Banes' double to the gap. In the fifth inning the Oracles were not done. Cebulla had a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pennington walked to start the inning. The Oracles attempted a double steal and Beamer was cut down at the plate by a good Cougar defensive play. However Dustin Oliver picked the Oracles up with a single to score Coy Pennington. He then stole second and scored on Wilson's single.

In the seventh Pennington reached on an error. Justin Snider laid down a bunt single to move Pennington to third. He scored on another Cougar error off the bat of Paul Zink. The Cougars had a chance in the seventh to put some runs on the board when Benson hit a double with one out. A walk to Carroll's Chandler Keown with two outs put two runners on. On a passed ball both runners advanced and Bender struck out the last Cougar.

The Oracle offense ended the day with 12 hits. Eight Cougar fielding errors had the Oracles on base all evening.