WARR ACRES – Bethany dropped both of its playoff games to No. 6 Chickasha Wednesday (May 1), losing 6-1 and 9-8 and being eliminated from the Class 4A Area Tournament played at Putnam City.

“Really good games today, Chickasha is a very disciplined team. They do a good job executing small ball baseball,” Bethany coach Brandon Ruiz said via text.

The 11th-ranked Bronchos finish the season at 22-15.

GAME 1: CHICKASHA 6, BETHANY 1

Bethany’s offense was stymied by Chickasha junior Layton Bryan who allowed five hits and struck out 10 batters.

The Bronchos trailed 3-0 in the top of the third inning when they got on the scoreboard. Sophomore Judson Gilliland led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. Junior Levi Moore moved Gilliland to second base on a sacrifice bunt. Senior Cade Ross walked (one of only two walks issued by Bryan). Sophomore Karter Thomas brought Gilliland home with a single to left field.

Junior Andrew Taber went 2-for-2. Ross, Thomas and Gilliland each picked up hits in the loss.

Junior Josh Pierce gave up four hits, six runs (three of which were earned), four walks and struck out none.

GAME 2: CHICKASHA 9, BETHANY 8

In game two, Bethany gave up a five-run lead early in the game.

In the of the first inning, Pierce hit a two-run homer, scoring Ross (who walked to lead off the game). In the second inning, Thomas tripled to right field, scoring junior Brock Cross and Ross. Thomas came home on an error on the same play to give Bethany a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the second, Tolle hit a batter and walked two more. Bryan hit a two-run single to cut into the Bronchos’ lead.

In the third, Chickasha freshman Lane Jay homered over the left field wall to make it 5-3.

Bethany extended the lead to 6-3 in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single center field by Moore, scoring Gilliland.

In the bottom half of the inning, Chickasha freshman Javier Nieto had an RBI-double followed by an RBI-single by Bryan. The Chicks took a 7-6 lead on a Jay groundout and a single by senior Kyler Venable.

The Bronchos tied it up at 7-7 in the sixth inning on a Thomas RBI-single, scoring Gilliland.

In the bottom half of the inning, Chickasha took the lead for good as a two hit batsmen, a walk and two groundouts plated two runs to make it 9-7.

Bethany rallied in the ninth as Pierce led off the inning with a walk. He moved to second base on a Taber single and moved to third base on a wild pitch. Pierce scored on a Sigler groundout for the second out.

Taber advanced to third base, putting the tying run 90 feet away.

Gilliland flied out to right field to end the game.

The Bronchos outhit the Fightn’ Chicks, 9-7

“We saw a good arm (Bryan) in the first game and the second game we took advantage of timely hitting with runners in scoring position,” Ruiz said.

Thomas and Taber each went 2-for-4.

Despite another exit in areas, Ruiz was upbeat.

“The biggest thing we gained from this year is experience,” Ruiz said. “We have a solid core of guys coming back and we will be eager to accomplish more this next spring season.”

GAME 1: CHICKASHA 6, BETHANY 1

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bethany	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
Chickasha	1	2	0	3	0	0	X	6	4	0

BETHANY	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Ross	2	0	1	0	2	0
Thomas	4	0	1	1	0	1
Pierce	3	0	0	0	0	1
– Reither	–	–	–	–	–	–
Tolle	3	0	0	0	0	2
Taber	2	0	2	0	0	0
Sigler	3	0	0	0	0	1
Cross	3	0	0	0	0	2
Gilliland	2	1	1	0	0	1
Moore	2	0	0	0	0	1
– Berry	1	0	0	0	0	1
TOTAL	23	1	5	1	2	10

BETHANY	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Pierce ( L )	4	4	6	3	4	0
Reither	2	0	0	0	1	1
TOTAL	6	4	6	3	5	1

CHICKASHA	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Bryan	2	1	0	1	2	0
– Boswell	0	1	0	0	0	0
Jay	3	0	0	0	0	0
Venable	3	0	1	2	0	0
Lopez	2	0	0	0	0	0
Palesano	3	0	2	0	0	1
– Robnette	0	1	0	0	0	0
Johnson	3	1	1	0	0	0
Myrko	2	0	0	1	1	0
– Van Ess	0	1	0	0	0	0
McKinney	2	0	0	0	1	0
Nieto	2	1	0	1	1	0
TOTAL	20	6	4	5	5	1

CHICKASHA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Bryan ( W )	7	5	1	1	2	10
TOTAL	7	5	1	1	2	10

GAME 2: CHICKASHA 9, BETHANY 8

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bethany	2	3	0	1	0	1	1	8	11	1
Chickasha	0	2	1	4	0	2	X	9	6	0

BETHANY	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Ross	3	2	1	0	1	0
Thomas	3	1	2	3	0	0
Pierce	3	2	1	2	1	0
Tolle	4	0	1	0	0	0
Taber	4	0	2	0	0	1
Sigler	4	0	0	1	0	1
Gilliland	3	2	1	0	1	1
Cross	3	1	1	0	0	1
Moore	3	0	2	1	0	0
TOTAL	30	8	11	7	3	4

BETHANY	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Tolle	5	6	7	7	4	7
Finley ( L )	1	0	2	1	1	0
TOTAL	6	6	9	8	5	7

CHICKASHA	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Bryan	3	2	1	3	1	0
Jay	3	2	2	2	0	0
Venable	4	0	1	1	0	0
Lopez	3	0	0	0	0	3
Palesano	2	0	0	0	0	1
Johnson	1	1	0	0	2	1
Myrko	2	0	0	0	1	0
– Ross	1	0	0	0	0	0
McKinney	3	1	1	0	0	2
Nieto	1	1	1	1	1	0
TOTAL	23	9	6	7	5	7

CHICKASHA	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Venable	1.2	5	5	5	1	1
Myrko	2.1	2	1	1	0	3
Ross ( W )	3	4	2	1	2	0
TOTAL	7	11	8	7	3	4