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.

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Class 2A

1. Dale, 2. Preston, 3. Silo, 4. Byng, 5. Calera, 6. Colbert, 7. Tushka, 8. Latta

It may be controversial, but we’ve got a new #1 team. After Preston holding the top spot, Dale moves up past them. It isn’t anything that Preston did, but the strength of schedule for Dale along with their current 14 game winning streak and a 1-1 record vs Preston, Dale has a stronger resume.

Silo and Calera both move up after winning their respective tournaments this week.

Byng and Colbert lost twice this week.

Even though they lost to Silo in the championship game, Tushka has been surging the last few week.

Big game this week: #4 Silo vs #5 Byng (Tuesday)

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Class A

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

Okarche lost in the finals of the Okarche/AmPo Tournament to Dale, but they still have a stronghold on the top spot. They beat #2 Canute, 6-0, in the semifinals. Canute came back the next day and beat Byng in the 3rd place game so they remain at #2.

A-B and Navajo stay in the 3 and 4 spots.

Rattan jumps up to the 5 spot as they are playing their best ball of the season. They’ve won 9 out of their last 10 games including 4 in a row including wins over Cameron and Stuart.

Union City gets the nod at 7 with a win over Wright City earlier in the season.

Big games this week: Okarche at Byng (Thursday)

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Class B

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

A new week, a new #1. Ft Cobb-Broxton takes the top spot this week on the strength of their schedule. The Mustangs have played only 2 games against Class B competition beating Calumet and Leedey.

Stuart lost 2 games last week after being #1 dropping them to #3.

Dover moves up to #4 finishing runner up in the Flatland Tournament which included Leedey who took 3rd.

Asher beat Mill Creek last week solidifying their spot at #7

Big game(s) this week: Ft Cobb-Broxton at Dale (Tuesday)

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