In a game where the two teams combined for 30 runs, 27 hits, and 21 walks, Oak Hall outlasted Hawthorne in a three-hour marathon that just beat darkness at Roger Maris Field.

Oak Hall’s senior third baseman Gavin Jones hit for the cycle, including a grand slam, and drove in five runs, and the host Eagles used two five-run innings for an 18-12 win over Hawthorne.

Oak Hall evened its record at 5-5 and earned a split in the season series after losing 6-4 at Hawthorne on March 7. The Hornets, who had won four in a row and six of their last seven games, dropped to 8-7.

Hawthorne took the early lead with three runs in the top of the first inning. The Hornets put together two hits, two walks, and an Oak Hall error to score three runs off freshman starting pitcher Brayden Farmer. Sophomore Tison Thomas had an RBI single and eighth-grader Wyatt Jacobs drove in another run with a groundout.

But that lead was quickly erased by the Eagles in the bottom of the first. Oak Hall had its first five-run inning, sending eight batters to the plate. The big blow was a three-run triple by eighth grader Lincoln Jones that gave Oak Hall a 4-3 lead. Senior Brody Beaupre had a bases-loaded walk and sophomore Owen Lichstein hit a sacrifice fly as five straight Eagles hitters reached base and all five scored.

“We had a couple of mistakes in the field, and you are going to have that being young,” Oak Hall coach Kevin Maris said. “I thought we put some quality at-bats together and a couple of sacrifice flies and bunts and ran the bases really well.”

The Eagles extended the lead to 9-3 in the second thanks to an RBI single by Farmer and RBI double by Jones. Hawthorne kept fighting back, cutting the lead to 10-6 in the top of the fourth, but the Eagles kept adding on, scoring in every inning.

Hawthorne trailed 13-6 going into the sixth before scoring five runs on no hits as two Oak Hall pitchers walked seven batters to get within 13-11.

But then Jones came up to bat. Needing a home run for the cycle, he blasted a grand slam to center that put the game away for Oak Hall.

“We kind of let our foot off the gas there and let them back in it in the fourth inning,” Jones said. “We really had to re-apply some pressure and we got it done.”

Maris was impressed with the senior’s performance.

“Gavin’s just having an outstanding year and he’s swinging an incredible bat,” Maris said. “Whenever he comes up you just expect big things and he’s really swinging it and not missing much.”