Oklahoma HS baseball: Mount St. Mary, Washington, Perry, Salina reach Class 3A semifinals
The Class 3A Oklahoma high school baseball state tournament started Thursday at Oklahoma Christian in Edmond. Here are some takeaways from each quarterfinal game:
More: Oklahoma high school baseball: Class 6A-2A state tournament schedule, scores
Mount St. Mary 3, Lone Grove 0
Mount St. Mary had to get creative against Oklahoma State signee Cale Sudderth.
Although the Lone Grove southpaw pitcher wasn’t letting the Rockets’ bats heat up, they found a way to break the scoreless stalemate in the fifth inning.
Maddox Stanley stole second base after drawing a walk. Then the senior bolted home on an error and slid through the dirt, plating the first run in Mount St. Mary’s 3-0 victory against Lone Grove. In their first state tournament appearance since 1989, the Rockets (23-9) are heading to the semifinals, where they will meet two-time defending champion Washington at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
“Our seniors have been building for three years, and our team has been playing really well the last two weeks,” said Kevin Winterrowd, Mount St. Mary’s third-year coach. “And to beat a kid like we just beat on the mound, it’s special.”
Winterrowd praised Sudderth’s talent, saying he knew the pitcher would “win some battles.”
Sudderth struck out nine, but the Rockets had a star lefty on the mound, too.
Sophomore starter Parker Hayes earned the win, striking out eight while surrendering no runs and only three hits through a complete game.
“I just got settled in the first three innings,” Hayes said. “And then the last four, I was just rolling.”
The Rockets gave Hayes some breathing room when they extended their lead to 3-0 in the sixth. Joshua Shropshire crossed home on Wade Webb’s RBI single, and William Grayson capped the win with a two-out RBI triple to right field.
Stanley and Hayes said it simultaneously: The triple was the “cherry on top” of a key victory.
“This is the farthest we’ve made it, so it’s a really special last year,” Stanley said. “I’m glad that I’m able to celebrate it with my teammates, and hopefully, we can build something special going forward.”
More: Oklahoma high school baseball: Chickasha advances to Class 4A semifinals
Washington 11, Silo 1 (5 innings)
One defending state champion had to lose, and it wasn’t going to be Washington.
Silo made its debut in the Class 3A state tournament Thursday after winning six straight 2A titles. But the Warriors weren’t about to let Silo stomp on their hopes of a three-peat.
Washington prevailed in the clash of powerhouses with an 11-1 run-rule victory through five innings.
“I think the key is definitely energy for this team,” said Kade Norman, Washington’s senior third baseman. “Some people worry about it sometimes, and I just think that today, we came with the energy, and that’s how we played. We’ll win every time if we perform like that.”
Washington (32-4) relied on high-octane offense from the beginning, jumping to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning. As Silo (25-9) went through five pitchers, Washington’s momentum only grew.
In the third inning, Norman and Dax McCaskill fueled the spark with back-to-back RBI triples. Washington out-hit Silo, 9-4, while also capitalizing on errors. Starting pitcher Tristin Babbitt earned the win, quelling Silo’s typically dominant offense.
Washington coach Jeff Kulbeth said his team leaned on experience against a young Silo squad.
“We’ve had some opportunities the last couple of years to be here,” Kulbeth said. “Anytime you get to come back, they’re comfortable here, and they’re not going to be overwhelmed.
“I just asked for Washington Warrior playoff baseball to show up.”
Perry 1, Heritage Hall 0
Kyler Zagar had realistic expectations for his state tournament appearance against Heritage Hall.
While Heritage Hall senior ace Julius Ejike-Charles fanned 16 batters, Perry’s senior starter didn’t figure he would manage tons of strikeouts against the Chargers’ dynamic lineup.
With a solid defense behind him, Zagar had other ways to defeat Heritage Hall.
“At this level of baseball, I don’t pitch for strikeouts,” Zagar said. “I pitch to get outs.”
He did exactly that in Perry’s 1-0 victory against the Chargers. After falling in the state quarterfinals last season, Perry (36-6) punched its ticket to the semifinals, facing Salina at 11 a.m. Friday.
With only six total hits, Heritage Hall (25-6) and Perry engaged in a pitching duel. In the first inning, Kylind Williams drew a bases-loaded walk to give Perry a 1-0 lead, but Ejike-Charles didn’t let his opponents add to that momentum.
Through the first three innings, Ejike-Charles tallied seven strikeouts. In the fourth, the Tulane signee struck out the side.
He nearly matched that feat in the fifth, but junior right fielder Tajon Williams drilled the ball to right field and zoomed around the bases for a triple.
“I was rounding the corners, and I saw the ball go past the right fielder,” Williams said. “I just turned on the jets.”
While Ejike-Charles shut down Perry’s offense for most of the game, Williams never struck out, accounting for half of his team’s four hits. Zagar and Perry’s defense allowed only two hits, becoming the sole Class 3A team to shut out the Chargers this season.
“(The defense has) a lot of confidence behind me, so they give me confidence,” Zagar said. “My job is just to give them the ball. They take care of it really well.”
Salina 3, Community Christian 1
Maverick Williamson stepped onto the mound in the sixth inning with the pressure of preserving a two-run lead.
The Salina senior did more than that.
Inheriting one on base, Williamson struck out three batters in a row, throwing heat to end the frame quickly.
“I think I just blew the fastball right by them,” Williamson said. “I didn’t have my best off-speed stuff, but they weren’t ready for it.”
He earned the save in Salina’s 3-1 victory against Community Christian, securing his team’s third straight state semifinal appearance. Williamson and winning pitcher Conner Johnson (8-0) collectively allowed only three hits while top-seeded Salina’s offense racked up eight.
CCS sophomore ace Elijah Williams struck out nine, but Salina kept battling until the hits poured in.
“We knew that it wasn’t your typical eight-seed that we were playing,” said Salina coach Matt Simmons. “We knew we got to see a really good arm and just grind it out. Our kids stayed calm. We didn’t panic.
“I kind of panicked a little bit, but they didn’t panic.”
The Royals (24-10) arrived with energy in their first state tournament appearance. CCS took a 1-0 lead with James Peterson’s RBI single in the first inning, but Salina’s defense settled in to prevent an upset. Johnson, an Oral Roberts signee, kept his pitch count low, needing only five to get through the third inning. He tallied 56 pitches before leaving the mound in the sixth.
Jyce Glass catalyzed Salina’s offense with the tying RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth. Then Salina (31-9) plated the go-ahead run on an error. Williamson carried that momentum through the fifth, hitting a double to deep right field to set up Cody Wheeler’s RBI single.
On defense, Williamson stabilized Salina at first base until shifting to the mound in the sixth. Through two innings, he struck out four.
“He’s a three-time wrestling state champ,” Simmons said. “So he’s a competitor. He’s one of those guys that we feel comfortable with in those types of situations.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mount St. Mary, Washington, Perry, Salina advance to Class 3A semis
