by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — “Oxford is going to state.”

Not since 2006 can an Oxford baseball team make such a claim. Thursday afternoon at the Broadway Sports Complex in Winfield after two rain delays, Oxford would beat Cedar Vale/Dexter 3-2 to claim the Central-Burden Regional Championship.

Oxford now travels to the Great Bend Sports Complex on May 28-29 for the Class 2-1A State Tournament.

“Wow. That’s all I can say,” said Kyle Green, Oxford head baseball coach. “This team has just gotten better and better as the year has gone on.”

Behind the pitching of senior Oggie Shimkus, Oxford would come out victorious.

Oggie Shimkus

“He texted me (Wednesday) and told me, ‘Green, I’m going to throw the game of my life tomorrow,’” Green said. “And he wasn’t lying. He had command of the zone.”

In seven innings pitched, Shimkus had nine strikeouts, one walk, two hits, two runs and no earned runs.

“Our defense committed a couple of errors, but they buckled down and took care of business when it mattered the most,” Green said.

Dylan Reuter would hit what would turnout to be the game winning 2 RBI single in the top of the fourth. Up until that point CVD was leading 1-0.

Oxford would add a run in the fifth to make it 3-1 and then would only allow one run the rest of the way for the win.

“I feel so good for my seniors,” Green said. “They have seen it all. They played in a regional final as freshmen, had a solid season as sophomores, went through a rebuilding year as juniors and now have had to mentor what I think will be the youngest team at the state tournament.

This critical out at second helped left Oxford to victory.

“Through it all, they have been great.”

For Oxford, it’s a return to an impressive storied tradition. The program started in 1993, and the Wildcats have been to eight state appearances since. Coach Ed Popplewell was the last coach to take the baseball team, and that was in 2006.

This next state appearance may have been the most improbable. Oxford had five freshmen starting and two sophomores. The Wildcats came into the tournament as a fourth seed with a 9-11 record.

But then after an exciting first round win over West Elk, Oxford pulled off a huge 4-1 upset against top seed Udall, which was 18-2 going into the contest.

“I told the boys for several years it’s our job to get us back to state. They took the challenge head on,” Green said.

Green said Oxford played its best two games of the season when it mattered the most.

“These kids are special,” Green said. “Since regionals have started, they have played with great focus and determination. It’s been a fun ride.”

Oxford  3 Cedar Vale/Dexter 2

OHS  0  0  0  2  1  0  0    3

CVD  0  1  0  0  0  1  0    2

Winning pitcher:  Oxford – Oggie Shimkus. 7 IP  9 K’s, 1 BB, 2 hits, 2 runs, 0 ER

Losing pitcher:  Bratcher 5 IP; Massey 2 IP

Oxford Batting:

•Oggie Shimkus 2-4, 2 singles, reached on an error, 1 run scored.

•Dylan Reuter – 1-4, 1 single, 2 RBI’s.

•Derek Williams 2-3, 2 singles.

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