BHS TUESDAY REPORT: Golfers begin to zero in; baseball team hands coach 100th career victory; softball squad knocks off No. 4-ranked team
Bartlesville High School baseball coach Cody Price recorded his 100th win for the Bruins with Tuesday’s 4-3 win over Norman at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
Bartlesville High School’s Carson Silva waits on deck during an earlier season game. The Bruins defeated Norman 4-3 on Tuesday at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
By Mike Tupa
April 3, 2025
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Following are reports of Tuesday action in Bartlesville High School sports.
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BARTLESVILLE BASEBALL
From every angle Tuesday turned out to be one of the best nights of the season for the Bruins.
First, they beat the visiting Norman Tigers, 4-3, to complete the district series sweep.
Second, veteran pitcher Barrett Merciez hurled his first complete-game of the season and Jaxon Zaun went the distance at catcher for just the second time.
Third, Bartlesville improved to 12-7 — just one win shy of matching last year’s victory total.
And fourth, Bruin head coach Cody Price recorded his 100th career victory with the team.
“This was a team win,” said Price. “Norman is really a strong team.”
After having beating Norman, 5-3, on Monday, on the Tigers’ homefield, the Bruins scrapped to the one-run win at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium in Tuesday’s rematch. Bartlesville improved to 4-2 in the District 6A-4 standings.
Price called on Merciez and Zaun as his battery on Tuesday. Both have missed several games this season due to injury, but each is well on the mend and getting stronger.
“It kind of feels like we’re starting to get healthy,” Price observed.
Merciez tossed an eight-hitter with two walks and seven strikeouts. All three Norman runs were earned.
“It was one of those performances where he wasn’t as sharp as he always has been, but he kind of gritted it out. He found ways to get outs,” Price said.
When the going got tough, Merciez doubled down and rose to the occasion — such as in the top of the seventh when Norman put runners on second and third with no outs. Merciez gave up just one run, escaping the threat by striking out the three-hole batter and getting the five-hole hitter to ground out to shortstop Sam Marcella to retire the side.
Earlier in the game, Norman had runners on third and first with no outs and Merciez worked out of it without anyone crossing home plate.
But the growl of pressure still made itself heard after Norman clawed out a 2-0 lead — which held up until the fifth inning.
That’s when Bartlesville’s offense snapped into action — on a true two-out rally. Cooper Swaim started comeback with a walk, followed by Hunter Shea’s infield single.
Carson Silva — who has brought a big hammer to recent games — blasted a double to score both Swaim and Shea. Shea came all the way from first to home to tie the game, 2-2.
An inning later, the Bruins muscled into the lead after Kanin Romesburg and Merciez lashed back-to-back one-out singles. Damien Niko then walked to load the bases for Marcella. He lifted a sacrifice fly to plate the go-ahead run.
A passed ball brought home another tally to extend Bartlesville’s lead to 4-2.
Bartlesville High School coach Cody Price talks with pitcher Barrett Merciez during an earlier season game.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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Norman squandered its huge seventh-inning opportunity — thanks to Merciez’ clutch pitching — and the Bruins hung on for the historic 100th career win for Price, who is in his fifth full season as Bruin head coach. He actually arrived on the scene in 2020, but Bartlesville played only eight games prior to the virus-caused lockdown that cancelled the rest of the 2020 season.
The program followed with three-straight 20-plus win seasons (2001-03) and is on target to reach 20 victories this campaign.
Following Tuesday’s victory, the booster club presented Price with a plaque for his 100th win.
“I told the boys after the game it’s not about me but it’s about them,” he said. “When we came into the program we tried to bring in a culture of hard work, a culture for accountability and a culture on how to go about our business.”
Price expressed appreciation for numerous individuals that have helped him with the blessing of “getting for coach baseball for a living. It’s been an awesome experience and a pleasure.”
At the top of his list were his own family — and his grandfather and parents that live in Nowata.
“I’ve been blessed with an extremely supportive family,” Price said, noting his wife and children attend almost every game. “They love me being a coach and they love watching the Bruins play. They love the boys.”
He receives great strength from his parents and nearly-90-year-old grandfather, who are regular game attendees. His grandmother passed away within the past few years.
“I’m also thankful for my assistant coaches, Adam Steffenson and Alex Austin,” Price said. “They do a great job and they are great role models for the young men. They’re also my friends.”
The most important component of Bartlesville’s success during the 2020s has been the players and their hard work and commitment and character, Price said, adding he’s coached “some awesome young men.”
He also praised the high quality of parents and loyal parental support.
Price pointed to this year’s senior class of players as an example of what the program tries to be about.
“It’s nice to see the group of seniors we have now,” he said. “They’re completely changed from what they were when they came into the program as freshmen.”
Following a grueling stretch of competition — during which Bartlesville has played 14 games in 22 days, including a tournament in Alabama — the schedule lightens up a tad.
Bartlesville eyes two more games this week — weather permitting — including a Thursday home contest against Booker T. Washington and a Friday roadtrip to Coweta.
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Bartlesville High School’s Savannah Alden heads back to the dugout during earlier season action in Bartlesville. The Lady Bruins split a doubleheader with No. 5 Broken Arrow on Tuesday.
BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports
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BARTLESVILLE SOFTBALL
In a battle of two of state’s elite Class 6A powers, the No. 7-ranked Bartlesville Lady Bruins split a Tuesday doubleheader with No. 4 Broken Arrow, in Broken Arrow.
Broken Arrow (9-2) squeezed out an opening game win, 5-4. Bartlesville (12-4) snapped back in game two, 11-9.
Next up, Bartlesville will be home Thursday at 5 p.m. to take on Pryor.
Kyle Minton coaches the Lady Bruins.
Following are more details of Tuesday’s games.
BROKEN ARROW 5, BARTLESVILLE 4 — A two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth lifted Broken Arrow to victory.
Bartlesville’s Lexi Durao ejected the ball twice out of the park and drove in all four of the team’s runs.
She finished 3-for-3 and also scored twice.
Maddie Czaja added two singles. Erin Bridendolph, Savannah Alden and Chloe Robbins each poked a single.
Scoring one run apiece for Bartlesville were Isabell Daniels and Bridendolph.
Pitcher Karmandy Marsheck twirled a complete-game 11-hitter, giving up only two earned runs.
K. Denny, A. Evans and K. Glick each drove in a run for Broken Arrow. M. Boulware collected the pitching victory.
BARTLESVILLE 11, BROKEN ARROW 9 — What a game!
Broken Arrow carried a 9-4 lead into the final inning — only to see Bartlesville erupt for seven runs to cross the finish line as the winner.
Five different Lady Bruins contributed homers in the victory — Bridendolph, Alden, Jazmine Campbell, Robbins and Daniels.
Alden and Campbell also each lashed a double.
Daniels recorded four RBI, followed by Bridendolph, Alden and Campbell with two apiece.
Belting multiple hits each were Daniels, Bridendolph, Alden, Campbell, Lola Redington, Kenzie Denny and Robbins.
On the pitching end, Alden scattered 11 hits and allowed only four earned runs while Madie Nachbor handled catching duties.
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BOYS GOLF
What a difference a few Z’s made for the Bruin varsity linksters.
After shooting 659 — an average of 328.5 per round — in Monday’s Frontier Valley Conference tournament, the Bruins presumably got a good night’s sleep and traveled back Tuesday to Tulsa to shoot 314 at the Bishop Kelley Invitational.
That score was good enough to land them in fifth place out of 19 teams.
The progress was remarkable, despite what head golf coach Carl Holmes referred to as “atrocious wind” playing conditions. Freshman Hudson Coats fired 75 to lead the Bruins. He earned the sixth-place individual medal.
Sophomore Jay Wasemiller — a returning state meet medalist from last season — fashioned a 78. Rounding out the Bruins’ scores were freshman Damien Walker, 80; junior Lucas Wyatt, 81; and senior Nash Zervas, 85.
Bartlesville also entered a junior varsity team, which turned in an impressive score of 336 to finish ninth.
The jayvee squad included Carter Sauer, 76; Ethan Phelps, 79; Anson Smith, 90; Rhett Dennis, 91; and Reid Ryal, 101.
Next up, the Bruins will get back to the practice links prior to the upcoming Jenks Invitational at the Cedar Ridge course.