Class B Fall State Preview

It has all come down to this. All of those scorching hot practices in temps north of 100. All of those long road trips. All of the extra BP or fielding practice. The 2023 OSSAA Fall State Tournament is here.

In Class B, the top 4 OSSAA ranked teams (Ft Cobb-Broxton, Calumet, Tupelo, Stuart) made it to the State Tournament, but after that there were some “upsets” in the Regionals that makes this field wide open (for the most part).

Kiowa is the #6 ranked team and they were expected to be here. The #9 team, Mulhall-Orlando is no surprise to be here. However, #10 Asher secured a bid to State with wins over #7 Hammon and #12 Roff won it’s Regional with wins over Caney and Leedey (after the Bison upset Stuart in the opening round).

Let’s take a look at each team in the field.

(For a look at Class A, click here.)

Ft Cobb-Broxton Mustangs (27-5), #5 SSBR Super Six; #1 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 9-0
Record vs State Tournament teams: 2-0
Record vs each State Tournament team: Roff 1-0; Mulhall-Orlando 1-0
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 7.84
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 2.06

The Mustangs not have the best record in Class B, but don’t let that fool you that they can be considered the top team. As you can see above, out of the 32 total games FCB played, only 9 were against Class B teams (which they won by an average of 12-1).

FCB have wins over Class A State Tournament teams Okarche and Dale as well as several other Class A ranked teams. They also won the Hydro-Eakly Labor Day Tournament.

On top of that, they have one of the top rated players of the 2026 class in Eli Willits anchoring their team at shortstop and leading off the lineup.

Asher Indians (16-13), #10 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 10-5
Record vs State Tournament teams: 1-4
Record vs each State Tournament team: Roff 0-1; Kiowa 1-0; Stuart 0-1; Tupelo 0-1; Calumet 0-1
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 8.72
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 6.38

I’ve got to admit it. Growing up in Shawnee and Pottawtomie County, seeing Asher in the State Tournament is really nostalgic. However, while it is a great story that the Indians are in the State Tournament, this team is nowhere near those teams from the 80s and 90s.

After starting 3-5 in their first 8 games that included 4 of their 5 games against state tournament teams, Asher went 13-8 the rest of the way. All but 7 of those 8 losses came against Class A teams with the 8th against Calumet in the Regionals.

Kiowa Cowboys (18-11); #6 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 10-4
Record vs State Tournament teams: 0-4
Record vs each State Tournament team: Asher 0-1; Tupelo 0-2; Stuart 0-1
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 7.50
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 5.48

Kiowa is a hard team to figure out. While they were a respectable 10-4 against B teams and 8-7 against A teams, the Cowboys really didn’t have a “signature win” until they beat #11 Mill Creek and #14 Boswell in the Regionals.

On top of that, in their 11 losses on the season, Kiowa wasn’t in hardly any of them. The closest loss they had was a 10-7 defeat to Class A’s Cameron.

Roff Tigers (13-15), #12 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 7-4
Record vs State Tournament teams: 1-2
Record vs each Sate Tournament team: Asher 1-0; FCB 0-1; Tupelo 0-1
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 5.07
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 6.79

Everything points to the fact that Roff should not be here. They lost a ton of talent off of last year’s 2x State Tournament runners up. They give up more runs than they score. They have a losing record.

But when it is all said and done, Roff is a Regional Champ and is playing their best ball of the season.

Looking deeper into their record, five of the Tigers’ losses came against Class A state tournament teams. Another 5 losses came against ranked Class A teams. Four of their losses came to Class B state tournament teams and 2 Class B ranked teams.

This team started 1-8 in their first 9 games and went 12-7 the rest of the way. They are learning how to win.

Tupelo Tigers (21-10); #3 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 12-0
Record vs State Tournament teams: 4-0
Record vs each State Tournament team: Roff 1-0; Asher 1-0; Kiowa 2-0
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 7.42
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 3.19

Tupelo is a team that can compete. Along with their perfect record against Class B teams, the Tigers won their own tournament beating Calera and Class A State Tournament team Silo along the way.

Tupelo did hit a rough patch in the middle of September losing 7 of 8 games but those losses came to Silo (2x), Red Oak, Tushka, Rattan (2x), and Wister.

The Tigers righted the ship and have won 7 in a row coming into State.

They did kind of get a rough draw facing #4 Stuart in the quarterfinal round.

Stuart Hornets (20-7); #4 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 13-1
Record vs State Tournament teams: 2-0
Record vs each State Tournament team: Asher 1-0; Kiowa 1-0
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 8.30
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 3.74

Stuart is another team that is hard to figure out. They started the season 11-0 and were one of the last unbeaten teams in the state.

Since that start the Hornets are a meager 9-7. Now the level of competition did go up in those 17 games playing the likes of Preston, Wright City, and Silo, and Wister.

It is obvious when Stuart played Class B teams, they feasted on those teams until they lost to Leedey in the 1st round of Regionals 17-8. The Bison scored 9 runs in the 9th inning.

The question is, which Hornets teams show up to State?

Mulhall-Orlando Panthers (19-6); #9 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 11-1
Record vs State Tournament teams: 0-1
Record vs each State Tournament team: Ft Cobb-Broxton 0-1
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 8.68
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 4.28

Talk about a team that we still don’t know a lot about. Yes, M-O is 11-1 against Class B, but that record comes at the expense of some, let’s just say “struggling” teams. They even got the “benefit” of playing a Smithville team for a birth in the State Tournament who had a record of 10-12 going into Regionals.

Having said all of that, the Panthers did beat #8 ranked Granite in the first game of Regionals to put themselves in that position.

Calumet Chieftans (27-1); #2 SSBR Super Six; #2 OSSAA Rankings

Record vs Class B teams: 11-0
Record vs State Tournament teams: 1-0
Record vs each State Tournament team: Asher 1-0
Avg Runs Scored/Game: 10.79
Avg Runs Allowed/Game: 1.21

Calumet has been the most consistent team in either class this season. They are literally 1 run away from being the only undefeated team in either class.

While they only played 1 state tournament team in Asher, don’t think they’ve played a soft schedule. They did schedule a game vs FCB but it got rained out. Calumet does have wins over Okarche (who also gave them their only loss), Arapaho-Butler (2x), Navajo, and AmPo (2x). They also won the Okarche/AmPo Tournament beating the Warriors and Panthers along the way.

The Chieftans are the top score team in the field and give up the fewest runs per game. They are a complete team and are a legit state title contender.

Maybe its a good thing that the game vs Ft Cobb-Broxton got rained out? It certainly builds a potential title game between them that much more.

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