Royals sweep Bethel, advance to state tournament
May 2—Community Christian only needed two games to knock off No. 7-seed Bethel and advance to the state tournament Wednesday.
Starting pitcher Elijah Williams got the start and pitched all seven innings in a 3-2 win in the early game. Bethel held the Royals to just three hits, but they all came at the right time.
They had a double and two singles in the top of the third inning to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. Bethel pulled within one on an error in the sixth inning, but Williams put the next three batters down in order to secure the victory and pull within one win of the state tournament.
Ian Burgess started on the mound in the second game and picked right up where Williams left off.
He gave up two hits and a run in the first inning, but wouldn't let the Wildcats score again. The Royals scored seven runs over the first two innings to take a commanding lead in the game.
In the top of the fourth, Bethel loaded the bases with three singles and just one out on the board. Burgess struck out the next batter and forced a groundout to keep the Royals in the lead.
A two-run home run by Asher Jennings in the bottom of the sixth closed the door on the Wildcats for good.
The Class 3A baseball tournament begins next Thursday.
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com
