El Reno High School junior Heath Shelton watches EHS defensive coordinator Michael Pruitt launch a drone to take video of an offensive session.
El Reno kicked off football practice last week and school will open for the 2023-24 term on Thursday.
YUKON – El Reno High School coach Jason Little has been preaching execution on the little things in the game of softball and how critical they become in any ballgame.
However, when you’re opening up the season against a perennial Class 6A powerhouse such as Yukon, the lack of execution usually ends up in a snowball effect resulting in a loss.
That’s just what happened last week when El Reno kicked off its 2023 campaign with a 10-2 setback to the Millers.
What was slated as a road game to open up the 2023 fall season turned into an 8-0 home win for Union City High School’s baseball team over Wellston.
The game was shifted back to Cecil Simmons Field after morning rains made Wellston’s field unplayable.
Union City broke open a scoreless game in the third with four runs, followed by two-run bursts in the fourth and fifth innings to enact the run-rule.
The Tigers had 10 base hits in the win, led by Korbin Cook’s 2-for-3 effort with a triple and a home run. He drove in two runs and scored twice.
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.
Riding a 10-hit effort at the plate, Union City High School’s fast-pitch softball team opened up the 2023 season with a 17-7 road win over Velma-Alma.
The Tigers went 10-of-21 (.476) from the plate with three doubles from Kamryn Cook.
She went 4-for-4 on the day with five runs batted in and two scored. Payslie Armstrong went 3-of-4 with three ribbies.
Trestan Sutton, Skylar Morgan and Keely Riley added a base hit each. Lily Russell drew three walks resulting in a trio of runs scored and two more RBIs.
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.
