Sports

Several players with local ties were selected to play in the 2023 USSSA Oklahoma All-State Softball Games. The event was played at the Firelake Softball Complex in Shawnee.

Presley Bilderback represented the West Yellow 14-and-under team which took runner-up honors.

Bilderback, an eighth-grader, currently plays for El Reno Junior High’s softball team.

Bilderback’s effort earned her a spot on Team Oklahoma, which will play in the USSSA National All-State Games in Florida in December.

To say Rhett Kouba is having a good summer throwing the baseball would be a major understatement.

The El Reno High School graduate is having a stellar season on the hill for the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double A affiliate of the Houston Astros. He was recently named the Texas League’s Pitcher of the Month for July.

The Texas League, established in 1902, is a two-division gathering of Double A teams from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. The Hooks play in the South Division (all Texas teams) along with Amarillo, Frisco, Midland and San Antonio.

El Reno High School joined hundreds of other programs across the state of Oklahoma to kick off the first official day of preseason drills.

Weather postponed EHS’ start until after 8 a.m.

With a little over a week of practices and a handful of preseason outings, El Reno High School’s softball team is set to open the 2023 season at Yukon Monday night.

It’s an opener scheduled quicker than most expected but one that new head coach Jason Little is comfortable with having.

“I think the longer you practice, sometimes it can be regressive and the kids get into the rut of just going through the motions. I want them feeling ready to go.

SHAWNEE – Before leaving to fulfill his military commitment to the Army, Ryan Sigler worked in a meat processing plant in Mustang while preparing for his final football game of his high school career.

Sigler and fellow teammate Evan Roman Nose were among the three El Reno High alums to represent the school in the 2023 Oklahoma Coaches Association’s All-State Football Game.

Both players were on defense for the West squad, while student athletic trainer Julia Woolworth served as a member of the East squad after being promoted off the alternate list.

Playing in what could be her last basketball game for the foreseeable future, Okarche High School alum Emma Stover did what she has done so many times in the past for the Warriors – be a leader.

Stover was the top scorer for the West in the Oklahoma Coaches Association’s Small School Girls Basketball Game last week. It was a bittersweet ending as the East defeated Stover and company 41-36.

“She is going to Oklahoma State and concentrate on nursing school so this was it for her.

When El Reno Public Schools Athletic Director Rodney Haydon began looking for the district’s new wrestling coach, he wanted to find the person who could keep the program’s momentum going with little to no fallout.

He didn’t have to look far.

In its July meeting, the El Reno School Board approved the promotion of Anthony McDonald to head coach.

McDonald served as the lead assistant last season under Lewis, who resigned earlier this month to take the head coaching job at Kansas-based Baker University.

In what will likely be the final prep match for three alumni, El Reno High School ended a 13-year absence from the Oklahoma Coaches Association’s All-State Wrestling Matches.

With former head coach Tyrone Lewis, an EHS All-Stater himself (1999), yelling instructions from the stands, recent grads Dailey Jennings and Will Heger split matches for the Large West Team.

Both wrestlers are headed to the college ranks at the University of Central Oklahoma, while Lewis resigned earlier this month to take the head coaching job at Baker University in Kansas.

El Reno High School’s softball team will kick off the 2023 preseason on Tuesday with a trip to Chickasha.

The Indians will play Chaney Valley (10 a.m.), Berryhill (11:05 a.m.) and Bridge Creek (1:15 p.m.) with games being played at the town’s sports complex.

El Reno will then play at Southmoore High School on Thursday, taking on Washington (noon) and Norman North (3 p.m.)

New head coach Jason Little and the Indians are scheduled to open the 2023 regular season Aug. 7 with a road trip to Yukon.