Tennis: Heritage tourney will tell a lot…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Getting ready to cover my third Heritage Hall Tournament of Champions tennis event this weekend, but it definitely feels a little different.
Bishop McGuinness will not be there and that almost makes me want to put an asterisk * next to all girls’ winners. The Irish do not compete in athletic events on Easter weekend, no matter what. I understand. As a Catholic, it will feel weird watching tennis on Good Friday.
But this isn’t a religious discussion, it’s a tennis one. And just because the Irish aren’t there, doesn’t mean all the other top teams won’t be.
Special thanks to Heritage coach Dick Villaflor for sending me the teams.
Girls: Heritage Hall, Edmond Memorial, Edmond North, Shawnee, Broken Arrow, Duncan, Jenks and Enid.
Boys: Heritage Hall, Edmond Memorial, Edmond North, Putnam City North, Union, Carl Albert, Ada, Metro Christian.
That boys field is really fun and loaded. I’ll be out there all day Friday (girls) and Saturday (boys). Hope it doesn’t rain Friday, but that’s the word on the street. Enid, Edmond North and Jenks is a great preview of the Class 6A race.
I’ll predict Putnam North’s Chris Haworth takes the No. 1 singles title and Heritage Hall’s Julie Labarthe does the same on the girls side, but that’s all you’re getting from me. Looking forward to it.
- In other news, Harrah coach Jim Miller sent me results from the Central Oklahoma Classic, and the eye-popper is seeing Tulsa Edison’s Haley Martin at No. 1 doubles.
I would have bet the farm that she would be No. 1 singles and challenge McGuinness’ Whitney Ritchie for the Class 5A championship. Martin still might as we all know spots can change multiple times during the season.
Mt. St. Mary’s won the girls competition while Harrah was able to claim the title for the boys. Nice mix of teams at the tournament at Harrah.
- Jarrett Ferguson may be the future of Norman tennis, but Kevin Boyd isn’t ready to give it up yet. The Norman North stud defeated Ferguson last week in the Crosstown Clash – tennis edition.
- The Heritage Hall girls have been off to a fantastic start. Everyone knows about Julie Labarthe, but the No. 1 doubles team of Sarah Bowen and Carissa Villaflor is a pretty frightening tandem. Intrigued to see if they can take the title this weekend.
- Lurking in the shadows are the Irish girls. McGuinness really hasn’t done much since getting back from spring break. Hoping to get a chance to see the girls next Tuesday at Edmond North.
- Know of more tennis stars/stories? Can never have too much tennis news, let me know.
Carl Albert’s Gooch goes 2-for-2
I’m not sure which was stronger Tuesday, the level of competition or the wind at the Edmond Memorial Bulldog Invitational at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond.
All three Edmond teams were there, along with teams from Carl Albert, Oklahoma Christian and a few other top programs.
I mentioned in Monday’s paper that Norman North would get another shot at Edmond North, as both are among the state’s top teams, but I found out shortly after arriving at the course Tuesday morning that the Timberwolves only took their junior varsity. So their next shot at the Huskies will be next Monday at a 36-hole event in Enid.
Carl Albert’s Talor Gooch shot a 1-over-par 71 Tuesday to win by a stroke over Edmond Memorial’s Taylor Moore and Casady’s John Ratliff. Gooch has played two tournaments this spring and the Oklahoma State signee has won them both.
Five other golfers had 75 or better on Tuesday, which was pretty impressive with the crazy wind blowing across the course, as well as the slick greens.
Edmond North edged Memorial by three shots for the team title, followed by Edmond Santa Fe.
Putnam City North and Yukon each had strong team outings, finishing at 315 and 316 respectively. Yukon won its first tournament of the year before spring break, and PC North had a little bit slower start, but both look to have some solid golfers.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
West Metro POW: June Tigert, Mustang
Since the Player of the Week honor is actually for last week’s performances, that’s all I looked at, despite some strong performances in baseball, golf and other sports early this week. We’ll catch those top performers next time around.
For now, the honor goes to Mustang golfer June Tigert for her 81 at Rose Creek, leading the Lady Broncos to the team title and earning herself a second-place finish.
Most impressively, Mustang had three girls in the top 10, despite its top player, Karson Bizzell, finishing with a rough outing and a double-snowman in the blustery conditions. It shows that the Broncos are a team to be feared in the state tournament mix. They’ll play at Jenks Wednesday, so we’ll see how they fare against their top competition in the Lady Trojans.
Other contenders
Casey Coyle, PC North baseball: Went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and three RBIs in an 8-7 win over Edmond North last Tuesday.
Garrett Crain, Mustang baseball: Crain pitched four solid innings and had four hits at the plate, driving in three runs in a win over Norman North.
Jake Disney, Yukon baseball: In back-to-back games wins over Putnam City North and Edmond North, the sophomore was a combined 3-for-6 with two doubles and four RBIs.
Atavian Blakeley and Johnny Smith, PC West boys track: Blakeley high-jumped 6 feet, 6 inches and Smith long-jumped 20 feet, 6 inches, each winning gold at the Gregg Byram Track Classic in Norman. Smith also had a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash.
Aliyah Nolan, PC West girls track: The sophomore logged three top-five finishes at the Byram Classic in the 100, 200 and 400, taking second in the 100.
– Send West Metro POW nominations to swright@opubco.com.
Heritage: Barry Sanders, Cooper Cloud leading charge…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
How could you not want to be outside today? Seriously, it was so nice. Decided to catch some more baseball, this time at Heritage Hall for the Chargers and Perry.
Paced by strong efforts by Cooper Cloud and Barry Sanders at the plate, the Chargers remain undefeated with an 8-4 win against the Maroons.
Perry led 4-1 but couldn’t hold onto it. Sanders went yard to make it 4-2 in the third and then Heritage went off for six runs in the fourth inning.
Sanders came through again in that frame with a two-run triple and Cloud followed that with a two-run homer. Cloud also had an RBI sacrifice fly.
Hayden Workman was the star for the Maroons as he had four hits and an RBI. Jake Allison came in relief of Ben Lewallen to pick up the save while Lewallen earns the win, going 5 1/3 innings.
Cloud came up to me before the game asking (joking) about what does the team need to do to get ranked? I don’t know, but if they keep winning, coaches won’t have a choice.
Asked what has led the way to this start, Cloud said it’s been the pitching, most notably of Bob Kraft. Cloud said Kraft has been dominant on the mound and has close to 60 strikeouts already.
The Chargers are unranked despite the perfect record.
Hey, if you’re going to talk stuff before the game and then deliver during the game, guess you deserve some video love. Look for a video with Cloud on NewsOK on Wednesday.
Only a third of the way home for Heritage as the Chargers play every day this week, making this win so vital, Cloud said.
As expected, no action taken at OSSAA meeting
The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association’s Board of Directors met in executive session for nearly three hours Tuesday to go over the proposals from the committee it chanrged to look into public/non-public school issues.
The committee made its recommendations—which included a pair of multiplication factors added to the enrollment of non-public/private schools and an automatic one-year sit out period for Oklahoma students transferring or moving into one of those schools—at last week’s regularly scheduled board meeting.
As expected, the board took no action Tuesday.
They are expected to vote at the April 13 meeting whether or not to send all or part of the proposals to a vote of the membership.
“There was a lot of healthy discussion in the executive session at the last meeting and this one today,” OSSAA executive secretary Ed Sheakley said. “It’ll be up to the board to make a decision at next month’s meeting.”
Several of the proposals would not need a vote of the membership, though the multiplier and change to transfer rules would require the vote. Also requiring a vote would be the addition of a non-public representative to the board, another of the committee’s recommendations.
The 17-member committee was appointed last summer after several other proposals to the board by a group seeking change were voted down.
Basketball: Boys’ All-State rosters…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
The Oklahoma Coaches Association has released the boys All State selections. The games will be played at Oral Roberts University on July 29. The small schools will tip at 7 p.m. and the large schools at 8:30.
LARGE WEST
Dee Robinson – Lawton MacArthur
Chris Fitzpatrick – Enid
Jarrod Boersma – Norman
Tyler Neal – Putnam City West
Travon Grant – Capitol Hill
Kendre Talley – Star Spencer
Blaine Brooks – Blanchard
Amric Fields – Putnam City West
Chris Mustain – El Reno
Xavier McClish – Midwest City
Large West Coaches
Shawn Schenk – Edmond Santa Fe (Head)
Corey Miller – Woodward
LARGE EAST
Dustin Hopson – Broken Bow
Alex Moore – Cleveland
Cameron Downing – Tulsa Memorial
Tharone Chilton – Tulsa Washington
Oren Faulk – Muskogee
Chase Mongold – Ponca City
Jake Toupal – Broken Arrow
Qua Carter – Tulsa Union
Desmond Butler – Tulsa Edison
Robert Boyles – Claremore
Large East Coaches
Aaron George – Madill
Tim Stewart – Claremore
SMALL WEST
Dane Thrash – Cheyenne
Bryce Lamer – Garber
Gary Inglett – Plainview
Trevon Hartfield – Watonga
Josh Sweat – Big Pasture
Tyler Miller – Garber
J.D. Pugh – Texhoma
Grant Hetherington – Davis
Dalton Newsome – Mt. St. Mary’s
Connor Martin – Alva
Small West Coaches
Greg Higgins – Texhoma
Lenny Hatchett – Mt. St. Mary’s
SMALL EAST
Dylan Lemley – Roff
Ralston Moore – Pawnee
Cale Elam – Oktaha
Cale Jackson – Bethel
Joey Powers – Welch
Jordan Burrell – Valliant
Kyle Klaus – Pawnee
Jimmy Doolin – Dale
Chris Griffin – Haworth
Dillon Worley – Mason
Small East Coaches
Darrick Farriell – Bethel
David Day – Prague
Ed Memorial: ‘Dogs capitalize on big weekend…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
No baseball team had a bigger weekend than Edmond Memorial. You could argue that some teams had better ones, but last weekend was crucial for the Bulldogs.
Kyle Roberts’ club was 4-3 entering the week, including losses where it gave up 12 and 19 runs. But heading into Tuesday’s showdown with Del City, the Bulldogs are 9-4 and have made a huge jump from No. 13 to No. 7 in the rankings.
There’s a good reason for that jump, and that’s the 3-1 Memorial went in the always tough Tiger/Trojan Classic. The Bulldogs beat Jenks, Tulsa Memorial and Broken Arrow while slipping against Bishop Kelley.
But it wouldn’t have meant all that much if the team didn’t respond well against Del City on Monday. They did as the offense sparked a 15-7 win against the Eagles.
Roberts has been high on pitcher Alex Hill, and he brought the goods last week. Roberts said he felt this team had the talent to make a little noise. Hey, looks like he’s right.
Player of the week: Norman Zone
Megan Johnson, Norman
Track and field
Johnson took gold in two events, the 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters. The sophomore, who placed second last year at state in the mile and is the two-mile state champion, paced the Norman girls to a dominating victory in the team competition Saturday at the Gregg Byram Track Classic.
Other standouts:
Parker Bowles, Norman
The senior took twin titles in the 800 and 1,600 meter runs at the Gregg Byram Track Classic. Bowles is the No. 1 ranked runner in Class 6A in both events.
Kevin Boyd, Norman North
Boys tennis
Boyd topped Norman’s Jarrett Ferguson 6-1, 6-1 in No. 1 doubles as the T-Wolves blanked their Crosstown Clash rival Tigers 6-0.
Player of the week: Moore Zone
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Moore Zone
Dylen Brammer, Moore
Track and field
Brammer capped a three-event medal showing by anchoring the Lions’ 1,600 meter relay team to a first-place showing. The victory in that race gave the Lions the boys team title at the Gregg Byram Track Classic at Norman High School Saturday.
In cold and seriously windy conditions, Brammer excelled in a trio of races, but sealed the team crown for Moore by overtaking race-leader Del City in the final lap.
Other standouts:
Victoria Svetgoff, Westmoore
Track and field
Wind curtailed top performances and kept heights down in the high jump and pole vault competition at the Gregg Byram Track Classic, but Svetgoff topped all challengers in the pole vault, winning her second gold of the season.
Deer Creek: Antlers win fun (and long) one at Carl Albert…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
Sometimes you need to just sit back and enjoy it. Stop overanalyzing it and trying to find the perfect story. And in doing so, you FIND the right story.
That was the case Monday night in a terrific baseball game between 5A’s top two teams. Deer Creek’s Tyler Price hit a leadoff home run in the top of the eighth to give the Antlers a 13-12 win in eight innings at Carl Albert. Coincidentally, it was Price’s lone hit of the game.
The Titans are ranked No. 1 while the Antlers entered at No. 2.
Great crowd and atmosphere for a March game. It felt like a state tournament game and that also led to some big-time nerves, especially from Deer Creek’s Michael Fulmer.
He’s been solid this season, but Fulmer had 11 walks in four innings.
It’s days like this when you’re not finding the strike zone that you find out about somebody’s true character. Michael showed a lot today.” – coach Ron Moore
What was fun was seeing one great player after another step up and make something happen. The leaders were certainly Cale Coshow for Deer Creek and J.T. Realmuto for the Titans.
Coshow went 5-for-5 with two 2-run HRs and three singles. Ryan Aber joined me at Carl Albert and has a longer piece on Coshow for Tuesday’s paper. Coshow also pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to earn the victory.
Realmuto had a three-run double and a home run.
Early on, it looked like it was going to be a defensive affair as Carl Albert only led 4-2 after four innings. But the Antlers put up an 8 spot in the top of the fifth, and it was game on from that point forward.
There were a lot of hitters’ counts in the game – on both sides. People had opportunities to make something happen, and they did.” – Moore
It went from 10-4 to to 10-8 to 12-8 to 12-11 to 12-12 in the bottom of the seventh. Had that feeling that no lead was safe, and we were going to be there a while (we were).
A.J. Wilson had a home run for Carl Albert. Connor Patterson came up big for the Antlers with three hits and an RBI.
Really fun game to watch and tried to shoot some game video as well. So look for that and an interview with Cale Coshow on NewsOK on Tuesday.
Up next: Heading to Heritage Hall on Tuesday for the Chargers and Perry baseball.
