Baseball seeks back-to-back State Championships

Regular Season Recap:

The 2022 Heritage Hall baseball team kept the momentum going after coming off a Class 4A State Championship in 2021.

After a successful preseason, competing with large school teams such as the Choctaw Yellow Jackets (6A #2) and cross-town rivals like the Crossings Knights, the Chargers carried solid momentum into the regular season with a run-rule win over Mount St. Mary's 12-4 on Opening Day. Unfortunately, Heritage Hall ended up taking a close loss against the 6A Deer Creek Antlers in their second game.

After their first defeat, the Chargers bounced back, winning a close game against the Kingston Indians 5-4. Then, head coach Jordan Semore's squad rounded into form and destroyed almost every team they played.

A 16-game win streak broke the school record for the longest in program history. Some notable victories along the way included a 1-0 win against 5A Guthrie, a 12-3 win against Class A #1 Canute, and winning the Kingfisher Tournament. Unfortunately, the record-setting win streak came to an end after losing a tough battle, 11-7, against 4A powerhouse Tuttle. The Chargers followed that up with another win streak, this time amassing 9 straight victories before losing the regular season finale in a close one to the Blanchard Lions, 6-5.

The Chargers have been led offensively by Austin Lemon '23 (.624, 17 doubles, 5 triples, 5 homers, 39 RBI, 56 runs, 28 steals) and Tyler Offel '22 (.518, 14 doubles, 5 triples, 36 RBI, 45 runs, 22 steals). Six other Heritage Hall batters are hitting above .400 after the regular season, including clutch hitter Zach Fetrow '23 and late-season spark Abe Malone '22. Sophomores Kaeden Woods and Cole Spence have both produced breakout seasons.

On the mound, the Chargers featured a five-man rotation that proved more than challenging for opponents to deal with this season. Nick Keith '22 leads the way with a 6-0 record, 1.28 ERA, and 39 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. Fellow senior Brigham Evans is 4-1 with 2 saves, a 2.44 ERA, and 33 strikeouts in 23 innings. Junior hurler Braden Perkins (5-0, 4.63 ERA), and sophomores Carson Beam (3-0, 2.82 ERA) and Julius Ejike-Charles (3-2, 3.25 ERA) round out the rotation.

Playoff Preview:

After a tough final regular season contest, the Chargers look to regroup as they go into the playoffs. A pattern that is pretty apparent is that once the Chargers lose a game, they tend to make up for it by going on a huge win streak. You can expect to see that trend continue in the playoffs. Hopefully, this win streak will take them all the way to state. They started off the playoffs with back-to-back run-rule wins over Star Spencer in Bi-District play. One of the perks involved in having such a successful season is that Heritage Hall earned the right to host Regionals.

On Thursday, the Chargers will host Community Christian at 11 a.m. and will then face either Crossings or Chandler, pending game outcomes. Community Christian enters Regionals as the 4th seed, and The Hall has already scored easy wins over Crossings (13-5) and Chandler (12-0) this season. The Regional games involving Heritage Hall, on both Thursday and Friday, will be live streamed by ChargerVision on the NFHS Network. Tickets are available for each day of the tournament on the OSSAA/GoFan website.

The Chargers are looking to repeat as State Champions, this time in Class 3A, and that journey begins Thursday.

Written by Orie Walker '23
Photos by Kimberly Richelle

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