The calendar has turned to the a new school year and that means the OSSAA high school Fall baseball season will be here soon. The season officially gets underway on August 10, but teams can play games before then if both teams have already started school.
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 Fall season.
What you have below are the responses to those questions in the words of the coaches themselves.*
*The preview for Silo was provided by longtime voice of the Silo Rebels, Kevin Farr
Today’s team: Tushka Tigers
Classification: 2A
2025 Fall Results: 23-9 (State runner up)
2026 Spring Results: 23-11 (2A-2 State runner up)
Head Coach: Landon Carper
Head coaching experience: 8 years (3rd at Tushka)
Top Returners
We return 10 players from last year’s fall and spring state runner up teams that contributed to our success in some form. That would include Grady Howard, Kale Graham, Kollin Coates, Braylon Hastings, DJ Alberda, Creek Alford, Jake Langley, Waylon George, Hunter White, Jace Hastings, and Eli Webb.
- Grady Howard will be a junior catcher with two seasons of varsity games under his belt now. He will be expected to control the game from behind the plate for us as well as contributing to our line up in the sense of power and quality ABs.
- Kale Graham will be a junior that has played the infield and outfield in the past. He will be expected to give our line up some power contributing to extra base hits to the outfield as well as giving us innings on the mound.
- Kollin Coates will be a junior that will be expected to take on new rolls this season. He will be expected to learn how to play new positions on defense, offensively produce consistently, and give our team innings every week.
- Braylon Hastings will be a junior as well. He has played the infield and RF the last two years. He is expected to be one of our “baseball” guys! Whatever needs to be done such as bunting, hit and run, and developing some pop for himself is what I’m trying to say. He will be expected to give us some innings on the mound as well.
- DJ Alberda will be a senior. He has been a 3 year starter for us playing RF as a freshman and then playing anywhere the last two years such as 3B, 2B, and 1B but primarily 3B. He will be expected to give us senior leadership holding everyone to high standard of Tushka baseball. He is expected to drive runs in from the middle of the line up as well give us a chance to win on the mound.
- Creek Alford is another senior on our team. He is a hardworking individual that has had to overcome some obstacles. He started the state finals and gave us quality ABs this past fall and then had to have surgery missing the spring. He is back and we are expecting him to get healthy and contribute to our team in whatever he is asked just like he did before.
- Jake Langley is a senior. He is expected to give our line up depth by providing pop but most importantly for him to get on base with quality ABs and allow his athleticism to be a positive for our team. He is going to be counted on every week to give us innings on the mound by being a consistent arm.
- Waylon George is a junior with two high school varsity seasons under his belt in CF. He has to control outfield for our team with providing our pitching a safety net. He is expected to get on base and let his athleticism be a huge contribution to our team. Lastly, for Waylon he is going to be expected to give us innings this season on the mound by having short outings making his BB/K ratio better.
- Hunter White is a junior. He is LHP that has thrown big games for us the last 4 seasons. He is expected to have quality starts for us and lead our pitching staff. He is expected to give us a good attitude and competitive arm every day he takes the mound. He is expected to give our team a chance to win every time he’s on the mound.
- Jace Hastings is a senior that has played the OF and DH. We are counting on him to extend our line up by providing power and the ability to drive the ball to the OF.
- Eli Webb is a junior that has thrown in the 1st Round game for us this past spring and provided us with some innings on defense. We are looking for him to be more of contribution to our team in the box and give us some quality innings on the mound.
Top Newcomers
We have added a few to our team this year that will be expected to play at high level every day. Those players would include Sr. Bartlett Patterson, Jr. Jax Watkins, and Fr. Ryder McDaniel.
- Bartlett gives us an older arm with experience. He’s expected to learn our system and play well while learning and competing for a position everyday. He is a great athlete with a willingness to listen and learn. I look forward to seeing him grow this year both as a baseball player and an individual.
- Jax is another kid that has had to overcome some injuries. He is finally healthy and is hungry to play varsity baseball at a high level. We are expecting him to provide stability to our line up, maybe throw some innings depend on health, and give our defense another athletic body. Most importantly we want him to stay healthy and help us the next couple years.
- Ryder is a young athlete that is going to be expected to give us some innings on the mound. He throws it well to be a young kid and has a great attitude. We are looking forward to good career out of this young man.
We are also expecting contribution to our baseball team in some form from Sr. Adrian Fiscal, Soph. Kooper Hull, Soph. Nolan Langley, Jr. Heath Menges, Jr. Leighton Haggard, Jr. Sawyer Crews, Soph. Ethan McDaniel, Fr. Karson Aguilar-Wyricks, and Fr. Nolan Cannon.
- Adrian is expected to give us another catcher behind the plate and provide rest for Grady during the dog days of the fall.
- Kooper is a young Sophmore that will be expected to fight for a starting spot over older kids. He will also be expected to run bases in big spots.
- Nolan is expected to beat an older kid out for a starting position on the infield. He has great hands, smart individual, and is just a baseball player. We are counting on this young man to be a huge contribution to our team.
- Sawyer, Leighton, Heath, and Ethan are program type kids that are expected to be examples of our program by showing work ethic and the ability to be coachable.
- Karson and Nolan C. are young freshmen that our team looks forward to seeing mature and become good baseball players this year.
Team strengths
Some of our strengths in my opinion is our work ethic, willingness to adapt and change our style of play, playoff experience, strength of schedule, and competitive nature of our small town blue collar community kids. We return 20+ individuals from two state runner up teams as well as one state championship the past 2 years so I think getting older and maturing along with everything will be to our advantage this season.
Team needs to work on
We have plenty to get better at just like everyone but a few to name would be offensively we have to perform in the moments that matter by developing our hitters into guys that can hit all areas of the field, attack hitters from the pitching aspect and not giving opponents anything by making them earn their runs, and lastly just to be competitive and treat every day as if it’s the important day to prepare for the end of the year.
Outlook
Our kids are expected to play at a high level every single day as well as be a productive citizen to our society. That to me is a lot to ask of a 15-19 year old kid. Which is why here at Tushka we have the slogan “The Expected Tradition” because our kids are expected to act, perform, and be the best individuals in our society. I look forward to our team to compete for a state championship again this year by preparing every day until October from our schedule and practices.
Schedule
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