Oklahoma high school baseball: Carl Albert, Duncan advance to Class 5A championship game

EDMOND — The 2024 Class 5A Oklahoma high school baseball semifinals were held Friday at Edmond Santa Fe High School.

Here are recaps from each game:

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Carl Albert 4, Collinsville 0

A year ago, Carl Albert coach Ryan Whiteley put a ton of trust in a sophomore on the mound during the Class 5A state championship game.

And it paid off with a title.

So, why not turn to another sophomore in another huge situation?

“I know it wasn’t the finals, but I guess it was a superstition deal,” Whiteley said.

This time, it was Mason Avery. And the crafty right-hander kept Collinsville off balance throughout the day in a 4-0 complete-game shutout to advance to the state championship game for the fourth time since 2019.

Carl Albert (36-6) faces Duncan at 2 p.m. Saturday in Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. A win would give the Titans back-to-back championships and three in the past four seasons.

“It’s just kind of the standard,” Whiteley said. “It has been even before I got here. It’s kinda of the standard that you’re going to make the state tournament and then you just gotta go fight, scratch and claw to win three in a row.”

Avery made that a tad easier.

He allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out four, relying on his fastball and slider to stifle the Cardinals, who had been shut out only once all season.

Only one hit reached the outfield, a slow grounder to left field in the seventh by Talan Rush.

Avery benefitted from two double plays — one he started after he somehow snagged a line drive near his midsection in the third. Carl Albert third baseman Samuel Gonzalez also made multiple diving stops, including one to end the game.

“I love my guys,” Avery said.

Carl Albert took a 2-0 lead in the first off Carl Albert pitcher JJ Burwell on a sacrifice fly by Hutch Russell and a run-scoring single from Tanner Norman. Mister Randle made it 3-0 in the second with a bloop RBI single.

The Titans’ final run scored when Collinsville reliever Madaxon Aunko hit Davonte Jones with the bases loaded in the fifth.

That was all more than enough for Avery.

He said the early runs helped him settle down his nerves. But Whiteley never really noticed butterflies from his youngster.

Earlier in the season, Avery pitched against Class 6A state tournament teams Owasso and Edmond Memorial. He did well.

So, Whiteley had trust in a sophomore on the mound, especially with the best defensive alignment behind him.

“It means the world having coaches that trust in me and have faith in me to go out there and do what I need to do,” Avery said. “But at the end of the day, it’s all a team thing. I’m really grateful for the guys.”

Avery now hands the baseball to a teammate who has similar experience. Carl Albert star Declan Murphy will start Saturday.

A year ago, Murphy was that sophomore.

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Duncan 7, Tahlequah 3

A five-run outburst in the third inning was enough to propel Duncan past Tahlequah 7-3 and back to the state championship game for the second time in three years.

Duncan won the state title in 2022, its lone title in program history.

The Demons (33-8) took a 5-1 lead in the third, taking advantage of a Tahlequah miscue to score four unearned runs.

Tahlequah (24-12) committed a pair of errors on the day, as did Duncan.

The Demons also worked around issuing nine walks, with six coming from starter Eli Ramirez. He threw 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs — one earned — on three hits to earn the win. He struck out seven.

Duncan center fielder Raymond Garland was 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school baseball Class 5A state semifinals scores