Eight For State – 3rd Rankings – Sooner State Baseball Report

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. Dale, 3. Byng, 4. Silo, 5. Colbert, 6. Latta, 7. Calera, 8. OCA

Although the top 5 stays the same, there was some movement in the 2-4 spots. Dale went a perfect 4-0 last week while both Byng and Silo lost a game. So Dale slides into the 2nd spot while Byng and Silo slide 1 spot each.

Latta moves up to the 6th spot on the strength of their win over then #2 Byng. OCA slides to #8 after losing by run rule to Union City.

Keep an eye out for Tushka. The Tigers appear to be turning things around as they’ve won 5 in a row.

Big game this week: #3 Byng vs #5 Colbert (Monday)

Class A

Okarche, 2. Canute, 3. Arapaho-Butler, 4. Navajo, 5. Cameron, 6. Wright City, 7. Drummond, 8. Union City

Okarche is still atop the rankings as there is plenty of movement behind them. Canute went 5-0 last week including 2 wins over then #2 Navajo. Arapaho-Butler moves back up to #3 as Navajo goes 2-4 last week sliding to #4 from #2.

Cameron moves up to #5 on the back their runner up finish to Preston in their tournament. Drummond and Union City debut in the Eight for State as Drummond defeated Union City early in the week while the Tigers won the Mulhall-Orlando Tournament beating OCA in the finals.

Big games this week: Potential #1 Okarche vs #2 Canute in the semis of the AmPo/Okarche Tournament

Class B

Stuart, 2. Calumet, 3. Ft Cobb-Broxton, 4. Leedey, 5. Dover, 6. Hammon, 7. Asher, 8. Mill Creek

Stuart jumps up to #1 this week after winning their tournament and winners of 12 of their last 13 games. Calumet and FCB both move up a spot as they’ve played the toughest schedules in Class B. Leedey falls from #1 to #4 after going 1-2 last week.

Dover holds at #5 as Hammon moves up to #6 after their win over Leedey. Asher gets the nod over Mill Creek based on their head to head win over the Bullfrogs 2 weeks ago.

Big game(s) this week: #3 Ft Cobb-Broxton vs #2 Calumet (Tuesday); #7 Asher vs #8 Mill Creek (Thursday)

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