The Enid High Baseball team looked a little young out there this year, but they sure didn’t play like it. Even though the team only had two Senior contributors (Aydan Voitik and Reece Slater), they went 25-10, won regionals and made the State Tournament for the first time in 13 years. “We had a really good season this year,” said 7th year Head Coach Brad Gore, “even though we were young, we just kept getting better. Unfortunately, in the State Tournament game we just couldn’t get our bats going, and score some runs, even though we had some really good pitching.”
Several talented youngsters showed out all year such as Sophomore Shortstop Garret Shull who hit over .500, led the team in RBI’s with 48 and had 5 HR’s and 16 doubles. Fellow Sophomore, Catcher McCage Hartling was also really good both at the plate (hitting over .400) and behind it taking care of his pitchers and the keeping the other teams from running all over the place.
Second Baseman Brock Slater also impressed as the leadoff hitter. Coach Gore noted that Slater does “everything well, gets on base, good defensively, just really steady for us this year.”
The future is bright for these young players, which is illustrated by this story from Coach Gore “Our state tournament game didn’t start until like 10:30 p.m. and we didn’t get back until 3 a.m. Coach Baldwin, the weightlifting coach, told them they would be exempt from weights that morning, but every single kid showed up at 8 a.m. to put the work in. That’s big-time commitment to the program.”
Summer League will have started by the time this article comes out. Enid players have the opportunity to play on one of three different teams in the Connie Mack league. The Majors team is made up of the best kids from all over and is usually guys that have graduated or the best of the best younger players. Enid High School sponsors two teams – the Blue and the White. The Blue team are generally the high school starters or boys that are in line for contributing quickly. The White team is made up of the guys looking for their shot and allows the younger kids to get plenty of playing time. The middle school has a team that plays in the state “Red Dirt League” and is coached by Jordan Langton. “The summer is all about getting better,” Coach Gore says, “we really focus on development and having a middle school program really helps build camaraderie and pride in Enid Baseball. This, along with Coach Baldwin’s weight program, has really helped us reached a higher level. All in all, Enid baseball is in great shape.”
Enid summer baseball plays their games at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in downtown Enid. They will also host the Connie Mack tournament this summer, so be sure to get out and catch these great kids playing some good baseball.
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