I’ll admit that before I started Sooner State Baseball Report, my knowledge of small school baseball was not that great. I graduated from Shawnee High School (let’s just say it was a while ago) and my twin boys who graduated in 2022 went to a 6A school. I was used to teams being in districts and how teams finished in those districts was how they were grouped in the postseason.
During the first year of covering Fall baseball for SSBR (in 2023) I soon came to realize that for the Fall season (and Spring season for Classes 2A and lower) that the postseason assignments were based on the OSSAA rankings provided by the coaches. It also became apparent to me that some of the teams’ rankings were “questionable” at best.
These “questionable” rankings became so egregious that I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I began giving commentary on these rankings and continued that through the Fall season last year. However, while I was giving my “constructive criticism” last year, I thought of some lessons I’ve been taught over the years. Lessons like if you see a problem, find a solution. I don’t know what kind of solution I can provide (other than suggest that coaches’ rankings be made public), but I do know that I can provide what I would think would be a fair rankings for each team.
Last year I began to rank my top 10 in each class about half way through the Fall season. This year, I’m going to shorten that to my top 8 for each class – teams that if the season ended today should host a regional. Let’s call it my “Eight For State” (shout out to Blake Gamble for coming up with that in a convo we had this Spring).
Below you will see who I have as the top 8 in each class. What makes my rankings a little different is they are based not just on potential, but also on results and strength of schedule. At some point those factors have to be considered and teams rewarded or dinged as such.
These rankings reflect performance up to this point and will change as the season goes on.
Class 2A
- Preston, 2. Byng, 3. Silo, 4. Dale, 5. OCA, 6. Latta, 7. Calera, 8. Colbert
It is fair to say that the majority of the teams who have played the best the first 2 weeks of the season are in 2A. Five of the top eight teams in the SSBR Elite Eight are from 2A.
Preston has played the toughest schedule (along with Dale) and have only one loss – to Dale. They won the rematch a few days later.
Byng is the lone undefeated team in the Class, but they have not played as tough a schedule as Preston.
Silo got tripped up to a solid Latta team in the Tupelo Tournament, but they may have the best pitching in the Class. If their young hitters can find their way, watch out.
Dale’s has some big time wins vs Preston, Calumet, FCB, and Canute while their losses have been to Okarche (2x) and Preston.
OCA started off 8-0 before losing on a walk off balk in the finals of the Varnum Tournament.
Latta has been a nice surprise so far this season. They have wins over AmPo, FCB, and most recently, Silo. Their 3 losses have come against top level teams.
Calera started strong at 6-0, but lost their last 2 games in the Tupelo Tournament without scoring a run plus they were no hit vs Byng.
Colbert has 6 wins against a tough schedule.
Class A
- Okarche, 2. Canute, 3. Arapaho-Butler, 4. Cameron, 5. Navajo, 6. Wright City, 7. Wister, 8. Rattan
Okarche takes the top spot in Class A. They’ve got wins over #2 Canute, Dale (2x), Ft Cobb-Broxton, and #4 Cameron. Their only loss was to 2A #1 Preston.
Canute comes in at #2. Their 2 losses are to Okarche and Dale. The Spring ’25 State Champs look loaded.
Arapaho-Butler may make this a 3 team race in Class A. The Indians won their tournament this past week and are on a 5 game winning streak after losing to OCA.
The rest of the class is kind of wide open. I put Cameron at #4. They are riding a 3 game losing streak which does include losses to Okarche and Preston. However, the Yellowjackets started 6-0 with wins over Oktaha, Wister, and Tushka.
Navajo head coach Weston Winters told me for his preseason preview that he was concerned with injuries to start the season. All the Indians have done is win 7 of their first 10 games including a tournament win at the Fletcher Wood Bat.
Wright City, Wister, and Rattan have all struggled compared to their past success. The Lumberjax (winners of 2 state titles last school year) have been impressive in wins at Oktaha and Colbert, but not so much in their losses to Silo, Stuart, OCA, and Union City (which there is no shame in losing to those teams). Wister has won their 5 wins handily, but 2 of their losses were of the run rule variety. Rattan comes in at 4-4, but they may have found something in winning their last 2 games including a win vs Cameron.
Class B
- Calumet, 2. Stuart, 3. Ft Cobb-Broxton, 4. Leedey, 5. Mill Creek, 6. Dover, 7. Coleman, 8. Mulhall-Orlando
Talk about wide open. Class B doesn’t look like as much of a 2 team race as it has been the last 2 years.
Calumet gets the nod as the top team. The Chieftains have played a tough schedule with their only loss on a walk off HR at Dale.
Stuart comes in at #2. After starting 1-4, the Hornets have won 5 straight including the Varnum Tournament title with a win over SSBR #8 OCA.
It looks strange not having Ft Cobb-Broxton at the top spot let alone the 2nd spot, but the Mustangs are currently at 5-5 and on a 5 game losing streak. The only saving grace for the Mustangs at this point is the fact those losses came against Okarche, Latta, Okarche, Canute, and Dale – all top teams from Classes 2A and A.
Leedey is at 6-1 with their lone loss to a good Drummond team from Class A.
Mill Creek currently has the longest winning streak at this point starting the season at 8-0 and they have tournament championships in back to back weeks. The tournaments weren’t the toughest fields, but it does say something for a team to have to win 3 games in a row on the weekends.
Dover is riding a 7 game winning streak after opening with 2 losses to Class A’s Drummond and Ripley.
At 7-3 Coleman has good wins over Soper and Boswell from this past weekend before they lost to Mill Creek.
Mulhall-Orlando is one of only 3 undefeated teams left in the state at 7-0, but they take the 8th spot because their schedule has not, let’s just say, the toughest. They are supposed to host Dover on Monday, but it looks like weather is going to be the winner there.
Do you like the coverage Sooner State Baseball Report provides? Show your support by purchasing a shirt at the link below. Consider it a donation with something in return.
Official Sooner State Baseball Report Merch
Also, don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss any of our posts. Enter your email in the box below.
Sooner State Baseball Report 
Leave a comment