Oklahoma high school baseball: Westmoore, Sand Springs advance to Class 6A state title game

NORMAN — The Oklahoma Class 6A high school baseball state semifinals took place Friday at Norman North. Here are recaps from each game:

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Westmoore 8, Stillwater 1

Caleb Rey vividly remembers watching his brother dominate while donning the Jaguars' colors.

He had an extended conversation with the former Westmoore shortstop, Erick Rey, ahead of its 8-1 victory over Stillwater in the Class 6A state semifinals.

The message from his older brother? Perform like "Regional Rey" would.

"I've been playing some great ball lately, so that's what I want to be called now, too," Rey said.

Rey would live up to his brother's "Regional Rey" moniker in grand fashion.

The junior third baseman was electric on Friday, collecting three hits and bringing in two runners to score in the victory. Rey also made multiple plays in the infield to negate runners at first base.

Now, Caleb can accomplish a feat Erick never could — bringing a Class 6A state championship back to Westmoore.

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"I know my two-strike approach is second to none," Rey said.

"I felt like everything was working for me. Whenever there's runners on third, I'm going to bring them home every time. We've just got to keep the momentum going. Once we get our momentum going, nobody can stop us."

Westmoore (24-17) will face Sand Springs at 5 p.m. Saturday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. A win would give the Jaguars their first state championship in 30 years.

Rey and company were dominant at the plate. Stillwater gave up 15 hits to the Jaguars and allowed five base hits in the fifth inning, resulting in scoring four runs.

But while Westmoore's bats began to heat up, so did its Senior left-handed pitcher, Haydan O'Shea. He earned the win after throwing 105 pitches in six innings, striking out nine batters and allowing just three hits on the evening.

After a challenging period of five consecutive losses before the regional playoffs, the Jaguars have rallied together. They've since saved their best performances for what coach Brian Hunnicutt views as an opportune time.

"I think what I love most about our group is that they're battlers," Hunnicutt said.

"They never panic. So when we had ups and downs in the season, they didn't get too high or too low. I can stop and think about how cool it is to make this run a little later, but we all know what the main goal is — and that's our focus for the next 24 hours."

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Sand Springs 2, Owasso 0

Nerves overcame Easton Webb as he prepared for what he called "the biggest game" of his life.

The Sand Springs sophomore pitcher was making his first start in the 6A baseball state tournament, after all. But Webb settled down to the sound of dog barks from the Sandites' student section.

Those barks grew to a crescendo as Webb wrapped up a 2-0 shutout over Owasso, sending Sand Springs propelled itself to its first state final since 1978.

"It feels great knowing that the town believes in me like that," Webb said.

Webb earned the win after pitching a shutout in all seven innings while allowing just three hits on 88 pitches.

"The mindset for me was just to throw everything for a strike," Webb said. "I was trying to throw everything at them the last time we played them, so today, I just had to take a calculated approach and try not to think about it."

Sand Springs (29-11) will face the winner of Westmoore and Stillwater at 5 p.m. Saturday in Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. A win would give the Sandites their first state championship in school history.

While Webb dominated on the mound, senior Wyatt Rutledge spearheaded Sand Springs' efforts at the plate.

Rutledge went 2-for-2 and scored on Miller Tavaglione's RBI single. Rutledge's impact was also primarily felt in the infield at shortstop, making play after play to avoid letting runners on base.

"Easton and Wyatt are straight studs," Sand Springs head coach Matt Brown said. "Big-time players play their best in the biggest moments, and they both did that today."

While the Sandites will enter Saturday's state title game riding a nine-game win streak, the season has been an up-and-down battle.

Sand Springs hit a rough patch midway through April as it prepared for regionals and lost five of seven games in that span. Brown views the Sandites' ability to remain valiant as a testament to their toughness.

"Lots of times in baseball, the difference between winning and losing comes down to the ball bouncing your way," Brown said. "His year has been so much fun. We love the kids, and seeing our success drives me to be better for them."

Jordan Davis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jordan? He can be reached at jdavis@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jdavis34_. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Jordan’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school baseball Class 6A 2024 state tournament results