Opp built a 5-0 lead after the fourth inning and had to hold on late to beat Flomaton 7-6 on Monday night in the Bobcats’ baseball tournament on Merchants Field.

The eighth-ranked Bobcats scored tow runs each in the first and second innings and added one run in the fourth for a comfortable lead.

Flomaton hit two two-run home runs and added two runs late in the contest to cut the lead to one run.

OHS coach Michael Cassady said his players didn’t play like they have been the past few weeks.

“We sort of just went through the motions,” Cassady said. “A win’s a win. It’s good to win. We’ve got to play a little bit better.

“I thought Holt (Hall) gave us a good chance to win (on the mound),” he said.

Opp’s Colt Harrell and Zane Hollinghead scored on an error to get the Bobcats ahead 2-0 in the first inning.

Brady Vidich and Harrell later hit one RBI each for a 4-0 Bobcats lead in the second inning.

Opp went ahead 5-0 in the fourth on an RBI single from Hall that scored Hayden Nobles, who reached on a single.

At this point of the game, Cassady said the Bobcats “relaxed.”

“We relaxed and didn’t put them away when it was 5-0,” he said. “We had a couple of them leave the ball up and hit two bombs. When you get behind in the count, that’s what happens. You’ve got work ahead.”

Flomaton’s Trey Weeks hit the first two-run homer in the fifth inning, and Tyler Dove hit the second in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-4 after Opp added two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Hall earned the win for the Bobcats on the mound, allowing no runs on seven hits in four innings, while striking out two.

Opp’s Walker Messer earned the save in the seventh inning despite allowing two runs on one hit.

Cassady said Monday night’s game was the first time the Bobcats (14-2) ever sat on the lead this season.

“Hopefully we’ll learn from it,” he said. “We’ve got some distractions with spring break and having no school. We can’t have distractions, and I told them that we’ve got to play whether we’re out of school or in school. That’s what great teams do. They forget about those distractions.”

Harrell and Nobles led OHS with two hits each.

Opp will play three games today, starting at 10:30 a.m. against top-ranked W.S. Neal on the Babe Ruth/Senn Field. The Bobcats will then play Kinston at 3:30 in their second game, and will face T.R. Miller at 5:30 for the night cap.

Brewbaker Tech 14, Straughn 4

The Rams scored six runs in the second inning, led 7-0 and never relinquished the lead in the six-inning affair.

Straughn added three runs in the third to cut the game to 7-3, but Brewbaker Tech added two runs in the bottom half of the third inning, three runs in the fourth and two in the sixth to get the mercy rule win.

Daryle George went 3-for-4 with three singles to lead Straughn. Lane Sirmon, Johnny Owens, Taylor Messick and Keith Edgar scored one run each. Short and Owens had one double each.

Rollin Kinsaul allowed six earned runs on seven hits in two innings to get the loss.

“We’ve got to throw strikes and make plays,” SHS coach John Fussell said. “We’ve got to get better on the bases.”

In earlier action, SHS fell 8-7 to T.R. Miller.

Straughn will face Flomaton today at 10 a.m. on Merchants Field.