Ada baseball team to hit ground running

Bob Forrest Sports Writer

Ada March 02, 2008 09:16 pm

— Ada baseball was already facing a rebuilding year after losing an outstanding group of seniors off last season’s state tournament squad, and the Cougars got even younger when Willy Gould — expected to be the team’s clean-up hitter, third baseman and No. 1 starting pitcher — decided to play soccer instead of baseball this spring.
But coach Ronny Johns said his young squad has a chance to make another long playoff run, depending on how an exciting core of young talent develops during the spring.
“We have an opportunity to be very good both defensively and offensively,” Johns said. “We’ve had times where we can be very good and times when we’re not so good. Unfortunately, that’s a characteristic of an inexperienced team.
“I like their work ethic and they way they’re preparing,” he added. “We feel like the potential is there — it’s just a matter of putting everything together.”
With Gould out of the mix, Johns will rely heavily on his five remaining seniors — catcher Riley Keith, outfielders Brett Walls and Spencer Penrod, first baseman Parker Patton and pitcher/outfielder Dillon Phillips — to carry a lot of the load while his younger players get a crash course in Class 5A baseball against one of the toughest early-season schedules in the state of Oklahoma this spring in any class.
“All five of our seniors have had varsity experience, but this will be the youngest team I’ve had in probably four or five years,” Johns said. “We’ve been competing for positions, which is always good. We’re still in the process of moving people around and trying to find our best fit.
“As a coach, you always like to see a lot of returning starters, but it’s also exciting to have a group of young guys,” he noted. “I’m always excited about whatever I have, whether I have a lot of experience or I’m rebuilding. You get to see kids mature and become players, so we’re really excited about the group of kids we have.”
Johns should find out in a hurry just how competitive his young Cougars will be this season. Ada opens at home with 5A powers Carl Albert (the defending state champion and ranked No. 4 in the CoachesAid preseason poll) and (No. 8) Shawnee Tuesday and Thursday before facing No. 2 and archrival McAlester (Thursday, March 13) and Seminole (Saturday, March 15) on the road and 4A heavyweight and local rival Byng (ranked No. 14 in Class 4A) at home (on Friday, March 14) the following week.
“I’ve been taking a little bit of ribbing about our schedule, but you have to schedule teams who are in conferences when you can get them,” Johns said. “There’s nothing wrong with playing tough teams at the beginning, and we don’t have many cupcakes anywhere on our schedule.
“By spring break, we should have a pretty good idea of what we need to do,” he added. “Carl Albert and McAlester are probably going to open up No. 1 and 2 in 5A, Shawnee should also be a top 10 team, and Byng is Byng. Coach (Charles) Copeland has done a good job there.”
Ada’s home games with Carl Albert and Shawnee are part of a big opening week for one of the most anticipated area baseball and softball seasons in recent memory.
Byng, a top-five team in Class A for most of the 2007 fall season, will be bolstered by the return of slugging second baseman Glen Mitchell (who sat out last fall to prepare for basketball). The Pirates open their season with five straight road games, including three this week — at Prague Tuesday, at Tecumseh Friday and at McLoud Saturday. Byng’s first home game is Thursday, March 13, against defending Class 2A state champion Dale.
Latta, a state tournament squad in Class 2A last spring and in Class A last fall and expected to open as a top-five team in 2A again this season, is scheduled to open at home against Dale at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday (weather permitting). After traveling to Durant (No. 9 in 5A) for a festival Friday and Saturday, the Panthers return home for back-to-back high-profile showdowns with Class 3A power Washington next Tuesday and defending Class A fall champ Rock Creek two days later.
In Class B, Tupelo and Roff are expected to open the season ranked No. 1 and 2 after meeting in the fall state title game, and both sets of Tigers will be in action this week.
Tupelo, winner two of the last four Class B titles in addition to last fall’s championship, will host Stuart Monday and Allen Thursday before joining Latta at the Durant festival this weekend, while Roff will entertain Allen Tuesday and Soper Thursday before also joining the star-studded lineup in Durant Friday and Saturday.
In other action this week, Allen will prep for its rugged back-to-back meetings with Roff and Tupelo later in the week with a home opener Monday against Dewar; Asher (which was scheduled to open its season last Thursday) will host New Lima Monday and Bethel Saturday; Calvin will visit Okemah Tuesday and entertain Preston Thursday and McCurtain Friday; Coalgate will open the season Tuesday at home against Stonewall; Vanoss will visit Maysville Tuesday, Stuart Thursday and Boswell Saturday with a home date Friday against Wynnewood; and Wanette will host Coleman Tuesday and Maysville Thursday.
Softball action also begins for most small schools this week, and Roff and Tupelo — both state tournament squads last spring — open the season at Roff Tuesday in one of the week’s most intriguing match-ups.
Roff will visit Stuart Friday to close out the Lady Tigers’ first week of the campaign, and Tupelo — the 2006 Class B slowpitch state champion — will entertain Caddo on Thursday.
In other slowpitch action this week, Byng opens its season Friday at Sulphur; Stonewall will visit Antlers Monday and Maud Tuesday; Stratford and Vanoss will be at Asher Thursday for a three-way to open the season; and Wanette visits Maud Monday.
Gould’s defection to the soccer team had a trickle-down effect throughout the Ada baseball team, and Johns said filling those holes will be a priority early in the season.
“I don’t know who would be moving into the rotation ... I just know who we have pitching,” Johns noted, adding that Phillips (his only returning starter) figures to be the ace of his young staff, junior Keifer Truett will probably move from the bullpen into the No. 2 spot in the rotation and Walls, junior Caleb Caudle, sophomores Jesse Cashman and Tyler Carter and freshman Brendan Barr will all get a chance to compete for a spot. “I don’t know who will be moving into (Gould’s) spot, because we’re so young.”
Phillips, a 6-5 redhead nicknamed ‘Big Red’ for obvious reasons, and Truett both showed a lot of promise last season and again last summer in the second Red Dirt League season (which was cut in half because of rain during the final two weeks in June). Cashman, Barr, Caudle and Walls also got a little time on the mound in Red Dirt play, but Johns wasn’t able to get what he wanted out of the rain-shortened summer season — which leaves even more question marks than he had expected heading into the season.
“All of those guys will see some action on the mound, and we’ll see how it plays out,” Johns said. “That’s what hurts about last summer. We didn’t get to settle that in game situations.”
Johns said Barr — who showed exceptional range and a strong arm last summer while still a few months shy of starting his freshman year in high school — is a candidate to fill Gould’s spot at third, and Keifer, Cashman and sophomore Preston Dye are also possibilities to flank Patton on the infield.
“We have some options at third base,” Johns explained. “Right now, Brendan, Keifer and Jesse Cashman are all possibilities there, but they’re all pitchers. You hate to have one of your pitchers throw 80 or 90 pitches, then have to go out and play shortstop the next day.
“We have those four guys in the mix, and we’re just looking for the best combination,” he added. “One of those guys will have to be a swing guy who can play all three positions, depending on who’s pitching.”
Although his pitching and his infield alignment are up in the air, Johns should have any worries behind the plate, at first base or in the outfield, where his senior quintet figures to lend stability to a team that figures to be searching for an identity early in the season.
Keith has developed into a team leader and one of the state’s top catchers in any class, Patton is a good glove at first base, and Walls and Penrod have good range in the outfield and figure to join Keith in the middle of the Ada batting order. Phillips figures to also play right field when he isn’t pitching.
“Parker has played a lot of first base and Dillon has pitched in some big games, and the other three seniors have a lot of experience,” Johns said. “We’re hoping some of that rubs off on the younger kids and makes it an easier transition for some of them.”

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