Prep fall baseball: Oktaha advances to semis, will face Silo

Oct. 7—Kipton Christian hit a two-run home run in the first to erase a 1-0 deficit, and Oktaha went on to post a 9-1 win over Amber-Pocasset in the quarterfinal round of the Class A fall state baseball tournament Thursday at Yukon High School.

Maddox Edwards, whose leadoff double to Jared Jones to start the game led to Am-Po's only run, was steady from that point, scattering eight hits in all. He then had one of three RBI singles in the second — Kannon Robinson, Hunter Dearman had the others — and Christian's sacrifice fly made it a four-run inning and a 6-1 lead.

In the third, courtesy runner Preston Holmes scored on a wild pitch, then Edwards delivered his second RBI of the game on a single to left.

Tyler Allen's double in the sixth finished the scoring.

Edwards, Dearman and Darren Ledford all had two hits.

Next up, their nemesis. Top-seeded Silo beat Canute 10-0, pitting the two teams that have met in the fall and spring title games in 2021-22. Oktaha lost both, and will have to figure out the Rebels and Oklahoma State commit Kyler Proctor again.

Proctor, who drove in three runs in Silo's win Thursday, had a walk-off home run in last fall's final and came back into the game as a pitcher with just under his pitch limit left from having started the game, and shut down a frantic Oktaha rally in the spring final.

In the spring season of 2021, he no-hit the Tigers in the regional finals then won again on the mound in the 2A semifinals.

"I mean, we're playing tomorrow, so that's all you can ask for," said Oktaha coach Kevin Rodden. "The guys in our locker room believe it, the naysayers out there probably say different, but bring it on. It'll be a dogfight."

Oktaha will throw either Allen or Dearman on Friday. The game is again at Yukon. The winner reaches the championship game set for 12:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.