NORMAN — Bethany’s best baseball postseason finish in 66 years ended Friday (May 16) in an 11-3 loss to Blanchard in the semifinals of the Class 4A Baseball State Championship at Norman North.

The Lions (34-1) scored six runs in the sixth inning to turn a competitive game into a rout.

The Bronchos’ appearance was their first in the semifinals since 1959 when Bethany was the Class B runner-up.

“Love our guys very proud of them and our season,” Bethany coach Robert Lee said via text.

The Bronchos (29-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI-single from senior Joe Berry which scored fellow senior Charlie Tolle.

The lead held until the third inning when senior Layton Reither gave up four walks and two singles and Blanchard took a 3-1 lead.

Bethany answered with a run in the bottom half of the third inning with three straight singles of its own. The third single, a line drive to right field from junior Karter Thomas scored fellow junior Judson Gilliland to make it 3-2.

Lion senior Vaughan McIntyre got the run back in the fourth inning with an RBI-single to extend the lead to 4-2.

The Bronchos punched back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Reither walked and senior Brock Cross singled. Reither scored on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game again, 4-3.

Blanchard extended the lead 5-3 in the fifth inning on a wild pitch from Cross.

In the sixth, a two-run home run by McIntyre put the Lion rally in motion. McIntyre finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs batted in.

Blanchard added a double, a walk and two hit batsmen en route to six runs in the inning and a 9-3 lead.

The Bronchos had just one more baserunner over the next two innings and Blanchard added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to reach the 4A title game Saturday.

“We struggled on the mound today against the best team in the state,” Lee said. “You don’t lose if you learn and we will learn from this.”

Blanchard racked up 10 hits and 10 walks in the contest.

Tolle finished his Broncho career with a 2-for-4 game and a run scored. Gilliland, Thomas, Berry and Cross each had a hit in the loss.

Blanchard senior Hudsen Periman struck out seven Bronchos to get the win. Reliever Wyatt Pendergraph added two more strikeouts as the Bethany bats went cold.

The loss ended a season where the Bronchos finally reached the semifinal round after four state tournament appearances since 2000.

“It’s huge, great season, great record,” Lee said of the breakthrough season. “Very happy for our guys. Tremendous blessing, content but not complacent. We need to understand that we don’t rebuild, we reload. I think we can do that.”

Lee reflected on his group of seniors (Cross, Rylan Eccles, Tolle, Reither, Levi Moore, Andrew Taber, Matthew Wilson, Owen Lang, Joe Berry and Preston Orton.)

“Tremendous young men – all of them,” Lee said. “Knowing who we had to work with made it an easy decision to come back.”

Lee returned to Bethany after coaching the Bronchos in 2022.

“Enjoyed every single day (with the seniors),” Lee said. “Our seniors will be very successful in all they choose to do. Love them so much!”

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Blanchard (34-1)	0	0	3	1	1	4	2	11	10	1
Bethany (29-6)	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	3	6	1