Focus.

Family. It took a little bit of one and some reliance on the other on Saturday to send an already historic Okarche school year into the next stratosphere.

Behind a massive bottom of the third inning, Okarche turned a two-run deficit into a three-run lead and rode that momentum to an 8-3 victory against Dewar in the Class A-I baseball state championship at Shawnee High School.

ThevictorygaveOkarche the rare distinction of winning a state championship in fall baseball, basketball and spring baseball in the same school year.

Prior to Saturday, it had only been done twice: Roff in 2009-10 and Fort Cobb-Broxton in 2022-23.

Calumet, with its Class B championship just hours after Okarche won, became the fourth school to accomplish the feat.

Okarche did it - largely, but not completely - with a crop of seniors who will go down as the most successful class in school history in terms of athletics.

Four state basketball tournament appearances and three straight championships.

Six straight state baseball appearances with a trip to at least the semifinals in every one and two state championships.

“I would say they’ve been fantastic,” Okarche baseball coach Ryan Beaman said. “That’s a special group. They definitely exceeded expectations.”

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Easton Roby said the pressure was greatest in the fall.

“We hadn’t won one yet and we were ranked No. 1 all year,” said the Warrior standout. “There was definitely pressure all year, but more in the fall.”

The Warriors responded to that pressure with a 30-2 record and the school’s first ever baseball title.

There was pressure in the winter, too. Most of those same key contributors were part of the basketball squad gunning for its third consecutive championship.

Then came the spring. Again, Okarche was ranked No. 1 all season and had the added bull’s eye of being a fall champ.

And there was the added caveat of the chance to pull off the “triple crown” or the “trifecta” of three championships in one year.

But that’s where the focus came in.

“I think we talked about the chance to do that last summer,” Roby admits. “But in the fall we were only focused on winning that season. In basketball, we were only focused on winning basketball.

“And this spring, we were only focused on that, so we never were focusing on winning all three.”

This spring season featured more hiccups than the fall.

Okarche dropped five games before the playoffs, though the largest margin was two runs (8-6 to 2A-I No. 1 Dale on April 16).

“There was no real concern,” Beaman said. “We had to work around some stuff this year and in several of those games, we out-hit people. We knew we still had a really good defense, still had guys who can pitch and those losses were against some pretty good clubs.”

And from bigger schools. Okarche lost to 6A’s Norman North 6-5 in March.

Then it was 8-7 to Class 4A’s top-ranked Tuttle.

Next came three straight: 3-2 to 4A Weatherford, 6-5 to 2A-I No. 2 Cashion and the Dale defeat.

After that, Okarche re-“focused.”

The Warriors ended the regular season with a 15-0 run-rule against A-I No. 9 Fletcher and 3-0 against Elgin, the second-ranked team in Class 4A that only has four losses all year.

That rolled into the playoffs.

After receiving a bye in the district, Okarche got three shutout wins in the regional: 20-0 against Afton and 7-0 and 6-0 against Thomas.

At state, the Warriors blanked No. 8 Ripley 11-0 in five innings in the quarterfi nals.

The semifinals saw Okarche scorch No. 4 Amber- Pocasset for 11 runs in the first inning in yet another 11-0 run rule.

That pitted Okarche against No. 2 Dewar, the program that last denied the Warriors a trip to state.

When this crop of seniors were freshmen, Dewar won back-to-back games to beat Okarche in a regional and advance.

“It wasn’t something we talked about,” said Beaman. “But it was definitely something the guys thought about.”

The Dragons were no pushovers. They sported a 29-4 record and had outscored two state foes by a combined 17-3.

“We knew Saturday would be different,” said Beaman on his respect for the Dragons and not expecting another blowout win.

He was right. The Warriors struck first in the bottom of the opening frame when Brett Carnott got a two-out single, stole second and scored on Jake Henderson’s single.

The Dragons got it back in the second when Johnathan Wilson doubled off Roby and eventually stole home.

They made their big move in the top of the third. It started with a leadoff single. After a sacrifice bunt and a popup, Dewar strung together three consecutive singles and took a 3-1 lead. The Dragons had gotten to Roby for an uncharacteristically high seven hits through three innings. Beaman said there was no thought of replacing his ace despite Okarche having nearly its full arsenal of a pitching staff available. “It was still early and he’s a competitor,” said Beaman of Roby. The coach also noted that while Dewar did slap some legitimate hits, there were also a few that just barely got by an Okarche glove. “It was a ballgame,” he said. “They’re a good club and in the state finals for a reason. “But we also know what Easton has done.” Roby got the win when Okarche defeated Canute in the fall championship game and has pitched several big wins for the Warriors during his career. When the Dragons were able to get a 3-1 lead on him, even Roby admits he felt it a little. “You could definitely feel your nerves,” he said. “But I knew I just had to stay focused and get locked in.” Roby also noted that some of the Dewar hits had just slipped through the infield. “I knew my stuff was good enough to beat them,” he said. The focus was there. It was time for family, better known as Roby’s teammates. Dewar starter Ayden Been was able to keep Okarche mostly quiet on his first trip through the batting order. There was still a confi dence in the Warrior dugout. “Everyone who came in the dugout said ‘that’s the last time he’s getting me out,’” Roby said. It started immediately. Luke Hill, who struck out in his first appearance, led off with a triple. “Sometimes that’s all it takes is a spark and everyone else feeds off that,” Beaman said. Again, he was right. Roby brought Hill home with a single. Then Brett Carnott singled.

After an out, Colin Hendrickson’s hit scored Roby and tied the game, 3-3.

Jett Mueggenborg was next. His single drove in Carnott.

The Warriors now led 4-3.

Two batters later and it was Sam Kroener’s turn.

His double scored two, making it a 6-3 advantage.

“It was a huge sigh of relief,” said Roby. “You realize everyone has your back and it takes all nine of us to win.”

He likened the nine on the field and the rest in the dugout as his family.

“The stuff everyone sees with us…that’s how we are,” he said. “We’re great friends. We are one big family and that’s what we’ve said all year long.

“Each one of us believes we are brothers.”

As big as the bottom of the third was, it was the top of the fourth that may have sealed the deal.

For the first time in the game, Roby retired the Dragons in order.

“They had the momentum and then we took it with that five-spot,” Beaman said. “For him to go out and shut the door on them the next inning, it just felt different.”

Roby felt it, too. To him, it was more than different.

“The big inning was a punch to the gut for them,” he said. “But shutting them down the next inning when they knew they had to score?

“I felt we had it. I thought, ‘it’s over from here.’” He, too, was right. After giving up seven hits through three innings, Roby’s focus allowed him to only surrender two over the final four frames.

He struck out the side in both the fifth and sixth innings.

In the sixth, insurance came via two runs.

Ethan Kirby singled and later scored on a Hill sacrifice bunt.

Roby’s triple scored Lane Rother, who earlier had singled.

As he walked off the mound for the final time as a Warrior, Roby was rightfully applauded by the Warrior faithful.

He had struck out 11 batters and walked just one over 6 2/3 innings.

Cy Collamore coaxed a pop fly for the final out of the game.

Okarche has two state championships. Roby is the winning pitcher in both.

“It feels good to be the winning pitcher,” said Roby as Okarche capped a 23-5 season. “It definitely feels better than being on the losing end.”

The band of brothers got it done. Every Warrior in the lineup got a hit.

“I think it’s the first time that happened this season and we got it in the state championship,” Roby said.

Hill, Roby, Carnott and Hendrickson - all seniors had two hits apiece.

Roby drove in two runs while Hill and Hendrickson had 1 RBI each. Though he didn’t drive in a run, Carnott scored twice.

Henderson, Mueggenborg, Kirby, Kroener and Rother all had a hit.

Kroener delivered 2 RBIs while Mueggenborg and Henderson garnered 1 each.

A few of them return next year. A big bulk of the production will be lost to graduation and to the college ranks.

They go out as titans of Warrior lore.

“This group just loves to compete,” Beaman said. “The perseverance they have, the never-quit mindset. They don’t give up. They’re just so competitive.

“It’s just such a special group. I’m happy for them.”

With his high school career now - albeit barely - in the rearview mirror, Roby said the focus doesn’t have to be as sharp.

He - and the rest of his brothers - can appreciate what they accomplished.

“Now that it’s over, we talk about how we won all three this year and how crazy it was,” he said.

Also, in hindsight, Roby knows that’s the only way this group of soon-to-be graduates could have felt fulfilled.

“I think it’s the only way us seniors could have felt satisfied was to go out on wins,” he said. “Having to leave high school on a loss would hurt for a long time, so I’m glad we don’t have to feel that.”