Sports

This is the first of a two-part series recapping the summer baseball season for El Reno High School.

Consistency in the key basics of the game is what El Reno High School baseball coach Keith Hill was looking for during the month-long Red Dirt Summer League.

While he saw glimpses of it throughout the abbreviated eight-game season, Hill feels his varsity program still has work to do in the offseason – especially at the plate.

Losing players to graduation is nothing new to Kristen Koehler, but even the veteran El Reno High School volleyball coach can see the 2023 season will be a different venture.

El Reno recently completed the month-long Chickasha Summer League looking to fill the void of not one lost player but five starters from last year’s 11-17 team that lost in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs to Santa Fe South.

Pictured are the youth along with players and coaches who took part in last month’s El Reno High School’s Baseball Skills Clinic at the Hub Reed Complex.

Campers learned tips for better running, hitting, fielding and throwing.

Webmaster’s Note: Due to a production error, the wrong story ran Wednesday’s Tribune. This is the story for the pictures printed in that issue.

While it’s a small sample size to evaluate from, El Reno High School softball coach Jason Little says he has a better idea of the parts he has to work with heading into the 2023 season.

“We have a lot of floating pieces. I think we have nine positions that are open and I have not made any decisions on who is playing what position or who is first in the batting lineup or what spot they will hit from.

When Josh Finnigan and his mother, Karon Grulkey moved the Smoke on the Water Drag Boat Races to Lake El Reno, they wondered if the event would have the staying power they both sought.

A decade later, Finnigan answers that question with a resounding yes.

“In the beginning, I never thought we would make 10 years. But after three or four years we got things rolling and the support from local businesses has been outstanding.

BETHANY – After having several rally attempts halted in the first game of a doubleheader against Bethany on defensive plays by the Broncos, El Reno’s junior high baseball team got its revenge in the nightcap.

Clinging to a one-run lead and facing a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the final inning, a pitch got away from El Reno’s Ryker Crain.

However, the catcher was able to collect the ball and throw to pitcher Matt Velarde, who was covering home.

Pictured are the youth who took part in the 2023 El Reno High School Volleyball Skills Camp.

MUSTANG – Having lost yet another doubleheader due to the lack of players by its opponent, El Reno High School’s Varsity 1 baseball team made its first road trip of the summer having played two games in eight days.

The lack of diamond time showed.

El Reno slipped to 4-3 on the summer in the Red Dirt League standings after being swept by Mustang’s Red Squad by scores of 7-5 and 10-4.

The Indians had been scheduled to host Clinton the night before, but the Red Tornadoes backed out of the twinbill hours before first pitch due to a lack of available players.

Uncorking a summer-high 12 base hits, El Reno High School’s Varsity 1 baseball team rebounded from its first loss of the summer to defeat Crossings Christian School 13-12 in a Red Dirt League shootout.

The Knights defeated El Reno 1-0 in the opening game of the series at the Hub Reed Complex.

The split left the Indians with a 4-1 record for the Wooden Bat RDL standings. El Reno is now 3-1 against the Knights this summer after going 12-of-27 (.444) from the plate in the second game.