The calendar has turned to the a new year and that means the OSSAA high school baseball season will be here soon. Classes A1, A2, and B officially get started February 23 while the rest of the classes begin March 2.

Up until that the beginning of the season, SSBR will be providing previews of as many teams as we can. Recently, SSBR sent out questionnaires to the high school coaches across the state of Oklahoma asking for their top returning players, top newcomers, overall strengths/weaknesses, and their overall assessment where their respective programs are coming into the 2026 season.

What you have below are the responses to those questions in the words of the coaches themselves.

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Today’s team: El Reno Indians

Classification: 5A

2025 Results: 17-12 (Regional finalist)

Head Coach: Keith Hill

Head coaching experience: 10 years (all at El Reno)

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Top Returners

• Mason Fulton has signed with Redlands Community College as a 2 way player. Last year due to an arm injury Mason did not pitch and was our DH, Mason hit .423, with an .552 OBP, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 34 R, and 13 SB. Mason will hit lead off for us this year, he puts everything he has into it as he is a great practice player with a good attitude & work ethic. He is our leader and our program feeds off his energy.
• SR Jonathan Shelley is another player coming off a great JR year. Jonathan hit .415, with 1 HR, 27 RBI, 15 R, and a .542 OBP, while missing 9 games with nagging injuries. Jonathan will hit 3 hole for us this year, play SS, and also be our No. 1 option on the mound. Jonathan has prepared himself for the extra responsibilities of a young and inexperienced group of players, and is ready to lead the team this spring. Jonathan has worked hard, and we feel he will have a big SR year for us.
• JR Gage Lesperance is our returning catcher. Gage has worked hard behind the plate to improve his overall game. Gage has a consistent 2.0 pop time, has good footwork, and a strong accurate arm which will obviously help us in controlling the run game. Gage has improved a lot at the plate in the last few months and will be depended on for offensive production as he will hit in the middle of the order for us.
• SR Preston Ashford. Preston started for us last year at 1B. He has improved his hitting from last year, and threw 16 innings for us last year. He will have an expanded role on the mound this year and be expected to eat up a lot of innings in an increased role. We think he will be much improved from last year.

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Top Newcomers

• SR Will Gipson will start for us in the OF, and hit in the middle of the order. Will has good speed in the OF, takes good angles, and has a strong accurate arm. Will has a solid bat and will need to be productive for us hitting in the 5 hole. Will has a high upside and we are excited to see the year he will have..
• Ryker Crain (FR). Ryker will start at 3B for us and also be relied on to help out Offensively. Ryker has a good all around game, and also has a great feel for the game. With any Freshman, we know there will be ups & downs, but Ryker has a high upside and we are excited about what he brings to the team.
• JR Coy Atkins has improved as much as anyone we have from last year to this year. Coy bats L and throws L, he will be our No. 2 on the mound, while providing offensive production for us. We are expecting Coy to continue to improve and be a key player for us this spring as we move forward.
• We are also expecting important roles & continuous battles for playing time from, SR Jonah Dew, JR Garrett March, JR Austin Steffler, Soph Damien McKelvey, FR Garrett Moss, FR Ayden Overholser, & FR Kal La Foe.

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Overall Team Strengths

Right now I would say Defense, particularly in the OF and behind the plate, we have shown ability in the Infield but need more consistency there.

Overall Team Needs to Work On

Pitching and hitting have shown flashes, but the consistency hasn’t been there, but we are working hard as a team to improve those areas.

Outlook

We have some key guys with experience returning, especially Mason Fulton, and Jonathan Shelley, who are 4 year starters, but overall we are young and inexperienced in a few spots (especially on the mound). I am looking for guys who are striving for consistency, practice & play hard with a positive attitude. My expectation is that we have attention to detail, work hard, do the little things required, improve as we go & see where that takes us..

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Schedule

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