SSBR Fall Elite Eight – Week 5 – Sooner State Baseball Report

The weekly SSBR Fall Elite Eight is sponsored this season by our partner, Conner Darnell Designs. If you have a need for a graphic designer, photographer, or sports media, give Conner a look at his website: connerdarnelldesigns.com.

Here at SSBR we try to have fun with what we do. We cover a sport that is supposed to be fun and we want to convey that in our content.

One of the ways we do it is by doing our version of a ranking system. We take all the teams regardless of classification and do our best to rank them on how they are doing relative to their class.

*In the Spring we have the caveat that says we are not ranking them on a “head to head” basis. In the Fall since teams may play each other regardless of class more regularly, “head to head” is more of a factor.

We also do our rankings based on results more than what we think who would necessarily win a game. If a spot comes down to two teams, if they’ve played head to head the result of that game weighs heavily in that decision. (The first week’s rankings, however, do have what a team’s expectations for the season factored in, but as the season goes along it will be the results that matter.)

In the Spring we do a “Sweet Sixteen. In the Fall we do an “Elite Eight.” because there aren’t as many teams as the Spring, but six is too little for the Fall

As always, this is for fun so please treat it as such.

Dropped Out

Colbert Leopards (2A), PR 6: Last week: 2-2; Losses: Byng, Calera; Wins: Calera JV, Coleman
Stuart Hornets (B), PR 7: Last week: 1-2; Losses: Battiest, Rattan; Win: New Lima

1. Dale Pirates (2A), 16-3

Previous ranking: 3
Last week: 4-0

Let’s get it out of the way. Yes, Preston did not lose. In fact, they haven’t lost in 19 games.

Dale moves up to #1 from #3 on the strength of their schedule, the fact they’ve won 14 straight games themselves, and they also have wins vs the teams that beat them with the most recent being then #2 Okarche on Saturday.

Here are the teams that Dale has beaten since their losses to Preston and Okarche in Week 2: Canute, Ft Cobb- Broxton, Leedey, Navajo (2x), Calumet, Byng, Okarche. All of those teams have spent time in the SSBR Elite Eight this season with four of them in the current standings.

This week: Tues vs #8 Ft Cobb-Broxton; Thurs vs Colbert; Fri: vs Fletcher & Arapaho-Butler

2. Preston Pirates (2A), 20-1

Previous ranking: 1
Last week: 3-0

Yes, Preston has won 19 in a row. Yes, they have wins over Dale and Okarche. However, the 1 in the “L” column is to Dale and, frankly, Preston’s schedule since they beat Okarche on August 22 has not nearly been as good as Dale’s. In a “power rankings” which this is, Dale gets the nod over Preston.

The great thing about this is if these two teams keep winning, they will meet each other on the diamond and settle it there.

This does not mean Preston is a bad team. It just means that Dale has been more impressive with the schedule they’ve played.

This week: Mon at Ripley; Thurs vs Varnum; Fri at AmPo & Ft Cobb-Broxton (at AmPo)

3. Okarche Warriors (A), 18-2

Previous ranking: 2
Last week: 3-1

There really isn’t much to say about Okarche than what already has been said. There loss last week was to now #1 Dale in the finals of the Okarche/AmPo Tournament (ironic the Warriors beat Dale to win the Dale Invitational). Before that, the Warriors blanked what is probably their toughest team to beat in Class A, Canute.

Okarche outscored their opponents 35-2 last week (Hydro-Eakly, 20-2; OCA, 8-0; Canute, 6-0).

The schedule remains tough for the Warriors this week.

This week: Tues vs Drummond; Thurs at #6 Byng; Fri vs Latta

4. Silo Rebels (2A), 15-2

Previous ranking: 5
Last week: 4-0

We’ve addressed it before, but it is worth noting again. There may not be a better pitching staff around than the one at Silo. That wasn’t on display any better than Friday vs Wright City in the Silo Tournament. Zane Sander started the game. Sander gave up a hit, walk, and HBP in the first 3 batters giving up a run. Not wanting to wait around, Eddie Jeffcoat brought in Aiden McCarty. What did McCarty do? He sent the next 21 batters down in a row. That’s right, it was 21 up, 21 down with 9 strikeouts. Not technically a perfect game, but it was as close as you could get.

In the Rebels’ 17 games this season, they’ve given up 3 or more runs only 3 times.

This week: Mon vs Rattan; Tues vs #5 Byng; Thurs-Sat at Rattan Tourname t

5. Canute Trojans (A) 18-5

Previous ranking: 8
Last week: 4-1

It is rare that a team loses a game and moves up 3 spots in the rankings. But the way things fell last week, that is what happened to Canute.

Previously ranked Colbert and Stuart who were ranked ahead of Canute both dropped out of the rankings due to multiple losses. Canute did lose to Okarche who is clearly the top team in Class A at this point. Canute also beat Calumet int he first round of the Okarche/AmPo Tournament before that loss. But in what was an impressive show of intestinal fortitude, the Trojans came back and beat then #4 Byng in a game where they never trailed.

Canute is clearly the #2 team in Class A at this point and that win over Byng gives them the edge in the rankings.

This week: Mon at Verden; Tues vs Sentinel; Thurs-Sat at Ripley Tournament

6. Byng Pirates (2A), 12-3

Previous ranking: 4
Last week: 3-2

Byng is a team that seems to like living on the edge. Twice last week, the Pirates tied up games in the bottom of the 7th – Monday vs Colbert, Friday vs Dale. After giving up a run to Colbert in the top of the 9th vs Colbert, Byng scored 2 in the bottom half to walk it off. Against Dale in the Okarche/AmPo Tournament, Dale had a grand slam in the top half of the 8th downing byng, 5-1.

Byng went on to lose to Canute in the 3rd place game, 5-3.

Byng may be the 4th highest ranked 2A team, but the Pirates are still a player in the 2A title picture.

This week: Tues at #4 Silo; Thurs vs #3 Okarche

7. Calera Bulldogs (2A), 15-6

Previous ranking: NR
Last week: 4-0

Calera makes their 2nd appearance in the SSBR Elite Eight on the season on the back of a 4-0 week that saw them win their tournament with a win over a solid Roff team in the semis and then #6 Colbert in the finals.

It’s been an up and down season for the Bulldogs, but they are on an uptick right now and look like a team that can beat one of the top teams in 2A.

This week: Mon at Colbert; Thurs-Sat at Rattan Tournament

8. Ft Cobb-Broxton Mustangs (B), 14-8

Previous ranking: NR
Last week: 3-1

In a season where Class B is more open than it has been in a long time, the Ft Cobb-Broxton Mustangs has been showing of late that they may still be the favorite heading into the postseason. Yes, their record is 14-8, but they’ve played against only 2 Class B teams so far and they have been within the last 2 weeks. The Mustangs beat Leedey and they came back in a close game vs Calumet.

Rhett Bellamy has been outstanding on the mound in his last few appearances, and he could provide that ace the Mustangs will need in the postseason.

This week: Tues at #1 Dale; Thurs vs Colbert; Fri: at AmPo Festival (DH)

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