Wolverines enjoy 20-game winning streak from end of Spring Break until last weekend (UPDATE WITH MULDROW’S REGIONAL NOT STARTING UNTIL FRIDAY)

The Vian Wolverines lost 15-7 to Hammon on March 22 in the Ripley Tournament.

Believe it or not, that was the last loss the Wolverines suffered until falling to Panama on Monday afternoon at home.

In between those losses, the Wolverines enjoyed a 20-game winning streak, which is the longest by any team in high school baseball in Oklahoma.

“We’ve just gotten pretty tough,” Vian coach John Brockman said Saturday afternoon after his team won their 20th straight game with a 5-1 come-from-behind win over the Hulbert Riders at home. “We’ve been winning close games — everything has gone our way. The kids have played great. We’ve been in some tough games. They’ve never given up. They’re playing hard. They believe they can win.”

All teams need to be successful in three phases of the game — defense, hitting and pitching. During the winning streak, the Wolverines were excelling in all three areas.

“We’ve gotten outs when we needed to,” Brockman said. “We’ve gotten hits when we needed to. Our pitching has been great. They’ve been pounding the zone. We need to throw strikes and let our defense work. They’ve been throwing well. Everything has just gone our way. It’s a testament to them.”

ROLAND ROLLS OUT NEW TURF ON ITS BASEBALL FIELD

When fans came to Roland either to watch Thursday afternoon’s game with Pocola or Friday’s game with Poteau, they saw a new look to Roland’s baseball field.

Over the last couple of weeks, new turf has been laid down, replacing the grass and dirt infield. Around the back edge of the home plate area are painted the word “RANGERS” in all capital letters.

This makes the second local high school baseball field to have turf as Sallisaw’s home field got turfed at the beginning of the season, with the first game played on “The Turf of Dreams” happening right after Spring Break.

BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

This week, the high school baseball playoffs will get into full swing.

Sallisaw and Muldrow in Class 4A and Roland in Class 3A will begin the first of the three stages of postseason play with regional tournaments.

Sallisaw will be home, while Muldrow will travel to North Rock Creek High School north of Shawnee and Roland will head south to Valliant.

The Gore Pirates were sent to Ripley for their Class A-I Regional Tournament, while the Webbers Falls Warriors were sent to Stonewall, southeast of Ada, for their Class A-II Regional Tournament.

In all of these regional tournaments except for Muldrow’s, they are slated to begin Thursday with four games, in which by the end of the final game one team will be eliminated. The loser’s-bracket final will be at 4 p.m. Friday, with the regional title game at 6:30 p.m. Friday. If a second championship game is needed for any regional, they are slated for 2 p.m. Saturday. Muldrow’s Class 4A Regional will not get started until Friday, with four games Thursday, the loser’s-bracket final at 4 p.m. Saturday, the regional title game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and the if-game on Monday.

Our two local Class 2A teams, Vian and Central, should find out by Friday where they will go for their respective regionals. Class 2A only will have two stages of postseason play, regionals and state.

SO LONG SOFTBALL

Last week was rough on all of our six local slow-pitch softball teams as they were eliminated from the playoffs by being ousted in their respective district tournaments.

The only teams to post a district-tournament win were Muldrow, Central and Gore — with the latter two beating each other in the Class 3A District Tournament at Wister.

So, now beginning with late May, June and most of July, our softball players will be gearing up for the 2025 fast-pitch season which will begin in August.

Not that I’m trying to rush my summer vacation, but our 2025 Fall Sports Preview with season-preview stories and schedules of the eight fast-pitch softball teams and cross country teams will publish Aug. 5.

WEEK 8 PITCHING HIGHLIGHTS BASEBALL

Muldrow’s Jonah Claborn struck out 12 Pocola batters in the first game of Thursday afternoon’s home doubleheader.

Vian’s duo of Riley Ellis and Chris Cheater combined to one-hit the Wilburton Diggers on Thursday afternoon, while Cheater had a five-inning, one-hitter in the home win over Porter Consolidated on April 21. Staying with Vian pitching, Michael Polecat threw a seveninning three-hitter in Friday’s home win over Cameron, while teammate Manny Terrill threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts in the road win over Hartshorne on April 22.

Webbers Falls pitcher Brutus Robinson threw a one-hitter with eight strikeouts in last week’s Class A-II District Tournament opener against Cave Springs. In the district-clinching win, he went the final 2.2 innings with five Ks.

WEEK 8 HITTING HIGHLIGHTS BASEBALL

Sallisaw’s Easton Wolfe hit the game-winning RBI single in the seventh inning to walk off the come-from-behind win over Prairie Grove to make Thursday a successful Senior Night for the Black Diamonds.

Sallisaw’s Dagan Grizzle hit two home runs, his fifth and sixth homers, in a District 4A-8 road win over Hilldale on April 22, while teammate Creed Nelson had three hits in the two district games against Hilldale.

Roland’s Alex Brant had five hits last week in four games, all of which were losses for the Rangers.

Central’s Hardy Buzzard had three hits in Central’s lone two games played in the road three-way against host Oktaha and Wister on April 21.

Vian’s Riley Ellis hit his third and fourth home runs of the season last week — one against Porter Consolidated on April 21 and one the following day at Hartshorne — while teammate Michael Polecat had seven hits last week.

Webbers Falls Warrior Luke Pierce had three hits in the Class A-II District Tournament sweep of Cave Springs.

SOFTBALL

Muldrow’s Jaydin Dean had five hits last week, including her first home run of the season — an inside-the-park, three-run homer to help the Lady Bulldogs beat Locust Grove in the Class 5A District Tournament at Sequoyah-Tahlequah High School.

Central’s Keeley Poindexter had four hits in last week’s Class 3A District Tournament in Wister In that same Class 3A District Tournament in Wister, Gore’s Ricki Huckbay had six hits in three games.

Vian’s Tressa Sandlin had four hits in last week’s Class 3A District Tournament in Pocola.

Gans’ trio of Gabbie Price, Abigail Leach and Maddie Freeman each had a single in each of the two games against district-host Rattan in last week’s Class 2A District Tournament.

In the Class 2A District Tournament at Rock Creek High School, Bentley Ward, Gracie Sturgell and Bridgette Baer each had a multiplehit game for the Lady Warriors.

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David Seeley is sports editor for Your TIMES. He can be reached by calling him at (918) 775-4433, Ext 139 or emailing him at davids@cookson.news.