Sports

El Reno defensive coordinator Michael Pruitt talks over alignment schemes with a set of players during a recent practice.

El Reno was working through its second week of spring drills.
 

Jason Little is living proof that just when you think you have everything under control, life can throw you a curve ball.

As it turns out, the pitch looked too good for the veteran coach not to take a swing.

El Reno High School’s new softball coach took the EHS job just a day after accepting the assistant coaching position at Piedmont High School under longtime friend and summertime collaborator Keith Coleman.

The switch was perpetrated by a chance email from El Reno Athletic Director Rodney Haydon.

Before heading off to Oklahoma State, El Reno High School graduate Ty Vincent had a little work left to be done with his playing career in baseball.

Vincent started for the North squad in the 2023 Western Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association’s Large School All-Star Game. The event was played at Radar Park in Weatherford.

“It was fun and it was pretty cool. It was the last time to play baseball before I moved on and I got to represent El Reno again in an All-Star game,” said Vincent.

Redlands Community College’s baseball team had a short stay in the recent NJCAA Southwest District Championship, losing back-to-back games to end its season on an eight-game losing streak.

The Cougars, back in the postseason after a year absence, were the No.8 seed and dropped an 8-0 game to top-seeded South Arkansas in the opener. Redlands fell behind Murray State College 10-2 before scoring three runs in the sixth inning.

However, Redlands was shut out the remaining innings of the 10-5 loss which left the Cougars with a 21-35 overall record.

With 11 games and a playoff berth under their belts, expectations from both players and coaches are running high as El Reno High School's football program opened up its first week of spring drills.

“It’s been going good. We have got a lot of kids that are competing and battling every day. The kids are having fun and we have had great weather so far for it,” said El Reno head coach Russell Cook.

Both Calumet and El Reno high schools will be sending players to Wednesday’s Western Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association’s All-Star Games to be played in Weatherford.

Calumet’s Caleb Meschberger will play in the Small School Game, which starts at 4:30 p.m., followed by Ty Vincent in the Large School Game to follow.

It’s the second year in a row for El Reno to have a player selected for the event.

Both players played similar roles for their squads during the recent spring season, each starting in the outfield but seeing time in the field or on the mound.

A mad dash to the finish had several teams, including Redlands Community College, make up strokes on the leaders at the 2023 NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championships.

However, in the end it was the Cougars who got bumped out of sixth place, a position RCC had maintained over the middle rounds of the 72-hole event held at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kan.

Redlands started the final round in sixth place and trailed Texas-based McLennan Community College by six strokes. The Cougars made up four of those shots with a final round of 315.

After a year hiatus, Redlands Community College’s baseball team is back in the postseason despite dropping its regular-season finale to Northern Oklahoma College of Tonkawa.

The Cougars will be the eighth seed to the 2023 NJCAA Plains District Championship set to start Thursday in Enid at David Allen Ballpark. The event also serves as the Division 2, Region 2 Championship.

The two tournaments were combined after the NJCAA redistricted and added Region 16, which is made up of four Missouri programs as well as Hesston College out of Kansas.

The wind rolling over the Buffalo Dune Golf Course took its toll on scores during the second round of the 2023 NJCAA Division 1 Women’s National Golf Championships.

Scores on the Garden City, Kan., course were higher than the opening day marks, with only six of the 15 teams improving team totals from day one. Redlands Community College was one of the nine teams shooting a higher day two score.

“The wind blew a constant 25 miles per hour all day which made it more of a challenge. We played the last hole 6-over as a team which was disappointing.

PIEDMONT - Lawton has become the new thorn in the side of El Reno High School baseball after eliminating the Indians from the Class 5A playoffs for a third straight season.

Playing in the Region 1 Championship, Lawton MacArthur defeated El Reno twice by a total of four runs to end the Indians season.

The last two seasons it was Lawton Eisenhower to do the same.

Between the losses, El Reno ended Santa Fe South’s season for a second straight year by way of a 17-0 shutout. The 1-2 run in regionals left the Indians with a 15-21 overall record.