Warriors hunting for state title
No. 1 Okarche dominates regional to reach Class A state tournament
OKARCHE’S Brett Carnott (6) and Colin Hendrickson (7) celebrate after Carnott hit a threerun homer in the Warriors’ 22-0 win over Sterling on Thursday in a Class A regional tournament.
Okarche will be the top seed in this week’s Class A state baseball tournament.
The top-ranked Warriors earned that right Thursday with a sweep of their regional competition on their home field.
Okarche thumped Sterling 22-0 and then won the regional title with a 10-0 victory against No. 8 Union City.
Both wins were five-inning run rules.
This is Okarche’s third straight fall to reach the state tournament.
Each of the previous two trips ended in the semifinals to Rattan. The score was 5-1 in 2023 and 9-8 last season.
There were no runs scored against Okarche on Thursday. In fact, hits were scarce.
Luke Hill allowed just two base knocks in the clinching game.
The right-hander struck out nine batters and walked just two in his five innings.
He helped his own cause by going 3 for 3 at the plate and scoring three times from the leadoff position.
Okarche had nine hits overall.
Jett Mueggenborg also knocked in three runs in the game.
Cy Collamore, batting ninth in the order, was 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI.
His single in the bottom of the fifth scored Lane Rother and gave Okarche the necessary 10th run to end it.
The Warriors belted 17 hits in the opening win over Sterling.
The win advanced Okarche to Thursday night’s regional championship.
Brett Carnott took care of the Tigers with both his arm and his bat.
He went 3 for 4 at the plate and drove in a whopping 7 RBIs while also scoring three times.
His three-run homer in the fourth was one of two Okarche bombs in that inning.
That blast came three batters after Collamore cleared the bases with his two-run shot.
Collamore was 2 for 3, drove in two and scored twice.
Ethan Kirby collected hits in all four of his at-bats and drove in three runs.
Mueggenborg went 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs and four runs scored.
Meanwhile, Carnott gave up just one hit in his five innings of work on the mound.
He struck out nine batters without issuing a walk.
Okarche is 27-2 on the season.
The team’s only two losses are 7-5 to Preston, which is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, and 2-1 to Dale, ranked second in 2A.
Before that defeat, Okarche handed Dale two of its three losses this season.
Okarche has reached the state tournament in five straight seasons counting spring ball.
The Warriors made state in the spring of both 2024 and 2025. Both of those trips also ended in the semifinals.