On the heels of a 4A State quarterfinal loss, Newcastle High School baseball coach Jarod King called the 2024 season a “building block” for future success.
The No. 7 Racers were eliminated from further contention in a 9-3 decision to No. 2-ranked rival Blanchard in the Class 4A State Tournament game at Noble High School on Thursday. That wrapped up a 32-10 season and Newcastle’s first State tournament appearance since 2019. The Lions reached the State championship game and lost 3-2 to Marlow at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Saturday.
King told the Racers after their game Thursday, “I’m not ready for it to be over with, but I am proud of them and proud of everybody on the team.
“I wouldn’t trade one guy on that team for anybody else.”
Thursday was the third meeting between Newcastle and Blanchard this season. They split the regular season series, 1-1.
“Part of it is you’re familiar with them. You know what they have, who they might throw,” King said. “We knew it was going to be a good game.
“It was a fun game. The atmosphere was unbelievable, not just because it was the State tournament, but also I think they said there were over 1,000 people there.”
King said this was not only a rivalry game, but also a State tournament game and the atmosphere was “really good.”
The teams’ starting pitchers threw some of their best stuff Thursday, according to the coach, and paced the game until Blanchard pulled away late.
“It was a lot closer game than that score was, because in the sixth, I think it was 4-3,” King said. “Our pitcher threw really well, and their pitcher pitched really well. I think they just had a few more timely hits than we had,” he said. “We had some big moments and some big hits, but they may have capitalized on a few more than we did.”
Racers’ sophomore Ryder Gibson started the game and threw nine strikeouts in five innings while Blanchard’s Kaden Felan threw 14 Ks in six innings and some change.
Junior Taj Smith hit a solo bomb early in the game for Newcastle’s first run. Junior Jackson Schanuel and sophomore Lane Seaton both brought in runs with hits.
“I don’t think that was a matter of talent, because if you look out there, we were probably equal in talent. I think it may have been that they (Blanchard) had been to the State tournament the last three years, been to some State finals, and this was our (this group’s) first time,” King said. “So we got some valuable experience.”
Thursday’s contributions from Ryder, Smith, Schanuel, Seaton and others begs the question: Will Newcastle be the “inexperienced” team in the postseason in 2025?
“That’s just one more building block to getting to where we want to get, and that’s ultimately to win a State Championship,” King said.
Newcastle’s class of 2024, meanwhile, etched their names into what King hopes will be the foundation for a legacy of excellence.
“We want to be a potential State tournament team every year — one of those programs where they talk about baseball, they talk about the Newcastle Racers,” King said. “They’re the class that can say, ‘We’re the ones who started this run.’”
