ELDRED — The objective for the Otto-Eldred baseball team entering this week was pretty simple: win the last three games of the season to get to the .500 mark and it’ll earn you a trip to the playoffs.

The Terrors took care of the first leg of that journey on Monday afternoon, rolling over Cameron County 11-1 in five innings to win their last home game of the season.

O-E (6-8) dominated on both sides of the ball after a slow start, holding the Red Raiders to just one hit while striking for 10 of their own.

Sawyer Drummond was a force for the Terrors. Drummond got the start on the mound and was nearly perfect. All seven outs he recorded were via strikeouts and he allowed just one hit.

Drummond’s only blemish came in the second inning when three straight Red Raiders got on base and the lone Cameron County run came across after back-to-back throwing errors (one by Drummond himself). After that run scored and with runners still on second and third with no outs Drummond proceeded to strike out the side with just one run worth of damage.

The Terrors, and Drummond, never looked back from there.

The senior was replaced after 50 pitches in the fourth inning so that he could be used in the team’s two remaining games this week, but his teammate didn’t miss a beat.

Chase Sebastian entered the game in relief and got the game’s final five outs without allowing any baserunners.

Drummond was equally good, if not better, at the plate. He broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the second with a two-run single and followed that up with RBI hits in his next two at-bats. He finished the game with three hits and four RBI.

“He had a great look at the ball today,” Otto-Eldred head coach Jame Thomas said. “There were a few times in his first at-bat where he was jerking his head around, but he regained his focus after that and was all over it.”

Otto, which has scored 10 runs or more in four of its last five games, brought the bats again on Monday. There were big games all over the Terror batting order, including a two-hit, three RBI day for Jacob Merry.

Merry’s RBI single in the fifth inning put Otto up by 10 runs and ended the game.

“Everybody was hitting well today,” Thomas said. “Our pitching was great, as well. They were keeping the ball down and I couldn’t ask for anything better in a game we needed.”

Cameron County (6-9) beat Otto 4-2 in the first matchup between this two teams in late April. Adam Shaffer threw 6 2/3 innings and struck out 15 batters in that game.

This time around, the Red Raiders’ pitchers struggled to locate their pitches.

In addition to Otto’s 10 hits, Cameron County’s Ty Bauer and Marcus Brown combined to walk seven batters in the game. The Terrors’ first run of the game came via a walk with the bases loaded, and Otto’s patience at the plate paid off by constantly getting ahead in counts.

Otto’s number two hitter, Andrew Sheeler, drew three of those walks and cleanup hitter Chase Sebastian walked twice and was hit by a pitch.

“Good approaches at the plate by those guys,” Thomas said. “It’s always easier when the top of your order finds any way to get on base.”

And although the Terrors will certainly enjoy Monday’s big win, the team also has its sights set on something bigger.

After beginning the season 0-3 and falling to 2-6 less than two weeks ago, Otto has wins in four of its last six games and now has a very realistic shot to now make the postseason.

Otto has two games remaining: today against Bradford and Wednesday at Port Allegany. If they can win those two and finish the season 8-8, they’ll continue playing baseball in late May.

“I just think my guys had their fill of losing,” Thomas said. “They really beared down and they really started focusing on winning the rest of the games. The two road games against those teams will be a challenge, but the guys are ready to gear down as the season ends.”

The Terrors have played both Port Allegany and Bradford once already this season. O-E beat the Gators 3-2 to win their first game of the season, but fell to Bradford 6-4 on May 2.

AT ELDRED

     R H E

Cam County 010 00X X   1 1 3

Otto-Eldred   062 02X X 11 10 2

Ty Bauer (2 SO, 4 BB), Marcus Brown (2) (1 SO, 3 BB), and Bryce Bauer

Sawyer Drummond (7 SO, 2 BB), Chase Sebastian (4) (3 SO), and Cole Sebastian