The New Lima Falcons and the Varnum Whippet baseball teams had earned their way to the State Championship playoffs from our Seminole County schools in Class B.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Falcons and Whippets faced each other Thursday evening at the Palmer Field in Oklahoma City.

The number 6 ^th ranked New Lima Falcons batted first to start the game. The Falcons could not find their rhythm and went three and out.

The 3 ^rd ranked Varnum Whippets were up to bat and it didn’t take them long to get on the board.

Midway through the first inning with two men on base, Chubbs Biffle of Varnum hammers in a home run and starts a chain reaction of scores.

The Whippets score multiple runs in the first to go up 15-0.

Defense from both teams showed up in the second as neither team scored.

New Lima struggled to get on the board and went three and out at the top of the third.

Varnum hammers in five more runs to add to their lead.

At the top of the fourth inning, the score was 20-0 Varnum but the Falcons were not giving up. The Falcons managed two runs in the inning and prevented a shut out in the game.

The Whippets knocked in three more runs at the bottom of the fourth to seal the game.

The Falcon gave it one more shot but went three and out and the game was called.

Final score of the first round was 23-2 Varnum Whippets.

Martel Davis of Varnum pitched 2 innings and had 2 strike outs and 8 first pitch strikes.

Lance Nutt pitched 1.2 innings and had 3 strike outs and 5 first pitch strikes.

Chubbs Biffle had 4 hits and 6 RBIs.

Baylen White had 3 hits and 3 RBIs.

Braden Porter had 3 RBIS and Martel Davis had two hits.

New Lima Falcon Jack Keesee pitched 3.2 innings and had 15 first pitch strikes.

Ty Streater and Jack Keesee scored the runs for the Falcons.

The season had ended for the Falcons.

“We fought through quite a bit of adversity this spring. Having to play the final 29 games on the road due to adverse field conditions and losing one of our best players for 3 weeks to close out the regular season was awfully difficult.

But this bunch of guys I have are resilient, very resilient! Posting another 20+ win season, winning another district and regional championship, and advancing to back-to-back state tournaments was proof of an extremely successful year.

Although the first-round state tournament game did not go our way one thing is for sure, we will be back.

Bringing back 7 out of 9 starters and returning 4 out of 5 top arms, we again will be vying for a spot in the 2021 fall baseball tournament.

We are not even close to being done!” - New Lima’s Head Baseball Coach Kevin Romine stated.

With the win, the Whippets advanced to the semi-final round of the state tournament.

Friday, the Whippets now face the Red Oak Eagles. The Eagles entered the game ranked number 2 in Class B.

The Eagles started the game off and put up three runs to take the early lead.

Varnum could not find their rhythm and went three and out in the first.

Red Oak managed to score two more runs in the second to take a 5-0 lead.

The Eagles continued with their offensive game plan and added two more runs at the top of the third.

The Whippets knocked in a run to get on the board at the bottom of the inning.

Varnum’s defense stepped up in the 4 ^th and shut out the Eagles in the inning.

The Whippets closed the gap by five with another run scored.

Red Oak picked back up their game plan and scored 2 more runs and kept the Whippets scoreless in the 5 ^th .

Varnum continued to fight and held the Eagles to one run at the top of the 6 ^th and knocked in a run to keep the Whippets alive.

Red Oak again knocked in two more runs in the 7 ^th but Varnum’s offense wasn’t finished. A rally by the Whippets at the bottom of the inning sparked some momentum but the three runs scored wasn’t enough to come away victorious.

Varnum had fallen 6-12 to the Red Oak Eagles.

Baylen White of Varnum had three hits, with three RBIs.

White also pitched five innings with seven strike outs and 18 first pitch strikes.

Varnum’s Head Baseball Coach Josh Williams stated on their season:

“Coming off a State Basketball Championship, we may have been a calendar week behind, but our kids didn’t miss a beat.

We threw two shutouts the first week and hit the ground running from there.

We were led by our senior class. This is a very special group, and they complement each other so well.

Usually, the left side of our infield was Chubbs Biffle at third and Martell Davis at short. Both Martell and Chubbs will continue their academic and playing careers at Seminole State College.

They made our infield as good as any in the state. Martell led the team in average and Chubbs is one of the best left-handed hitters I have coached. Chubbs also accomplished a feat in the State Tournament that may have never happened before, by hitting for the cycle. (A single, double, triple, and homerun, all in one game).

Baylen White was our ace on the mound. When he pitched, we expected to win and most of the time we did. Baylen will continue his playing and academic career at Eastern Oklahoma State College as a two-way player. Baylen was also in the middle of our line-up and led the team in homeruns.

Our outfielders, Kaden Jasna, Braden Porter, and Chubby Hill played great defense all season and had many timely hits as well.

I was really pleased with our outfield play all year. Seniors Lance Nutt and Terrance Madkins were our other middle of the lineup guys, both hit over .400 and came through for us all season.

Cordell King was our designated hitter and really extended our line-up. He did a great job hitting the ball gap to gap all season.

Last but certainly not least our catcher Kailas Mack was the heart of our team. He battled a shoulder injury most of the season, but it did not slow him down much. He did a great job of handling our pitching staff.

We finished the season at 25-5 and in the State Semi-finals for the third time. We won 8 games versus State Qualifiers and had 11 shutouts.

Our seniors finished their careers with 177 wins. While I listed their baseball accomplishments, and noted their Basketball State Championship, they have made a bigger and much lasting impact on Varnum Public Schools off the field and in the classroom.

They are positive role models for our younger students. From start to finish they were successful, and all the credit goes to this special group of students”.

A big “Thank You” to the New Lima Falcon Baseball Team and the Varnum Whippet Baseball Team for a very exciting spring baseball season.

X