SHAWNEE — Latta junior Kase Hayes was called upon to lay down what was arguably the most important bunt of his high school career.
And what a beauty it was.
Hayes squared around and dropped a perfect bunt down the first-base line, executing a squeeze play to perfection and allowing pinch-runner Braxtyn Lee to race home from third base in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The clutch play lifted No. 2 Latta to a heart-pounding 2-1 victory over No. 8 Christian Heritage Academy Thursday night in the opening round of the Class 2A-I State Tournament at Ed Skelton Field.
The Panthers improved to 26-3 and advanced to face No. 3 Cashion in Friday’s highly anticipated semifinal matchup.
“He’s a kid that’s never scared of the moment, and the moment is never too big for him,” Latta coach Dillon Atkinson told The Ada News when asked about the walk-off bunt. “We had first and third with one out, and I think they probably knew what we were going to do. It’s something we work on a lot, and Kase did a good job of executing it when we needed it the most. I’m really proud of that kid.”
Christian Heritage Academy saw its season end at 23-13.
Cashion advanced by holding off No. 6 Oktaha 13-9 in another first-round game that lasted nearly three hours. Saturday’s championship game is set for 4 p.m., back at Shawnee High School.
Senior Ryder Perry turned in a gutsy complete-game effort on the mound for Latta, keeping the potent CHA offense off-balance all night. Perry struck out 11, walked two and allowed just two hits and one earned run across seven innings to improve to 6-0 this spring.
“That guy was absolutely nails. He was so good all night. and credit to (catcher) Landon Fortner behind the plate. With that battery together, they’re really stinkin’ good,” Atkinson said.
It was also a milestone night for Perry, who eclipsed 200 career strikeouts. He finished the game with 206.
Christian Heritage Academy entered the state tournament after scoring a combined 30 runs in three regional tournament games.
Latta 2, CHA 1
The Crusaders struck first with back-to-back two-out hits in the top of the second inning.
Dillon French lined a double to left field and later scored on an RBI single by AJ Warn. Those proved to be the only CHA hits of the game.
Latta answered in the bottom of the third inning. Christian Wolfe drew a walk, stole second base and eventually scored on an RBI single by Landon Fortner to tie the game at 1-1.
The Panthers erased a Christian Heritage Academy threat in the top of the fourth when Fortner fired a strike to Gestin Pollard at second base to catch Marshall Brown attempting to steal after drawing a two-out walk.
It was all zeroes the rest of the way until Latta finally scratched for the run in the bottom of the seventh.
Kane Dildine started the Panther uprising by beating out an infield single with a head-first dive at first base.
Perry followed with a one-out single to left-center field, and pinch-runner Braxtyn Lee advanced all the way to third on the play to set the stage for Hayes’ heroics.
Latta finished with five total hits, led by Fortner, who went 2-for-2 with a walk.
CHA ace Isaiah Sherer was solid in defeat from the mound. He struck out seven, walked two and allowed just two earned runs in 6.1 innings.