In 5th season, OC baseball looks to continue progress

Left fielder Heath Steele is one of two returning outfield starters this season for Oklahoma Christian.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 3, 2012) – Building a successful team in the rough-and-tumble world of Sooner Athletic Conference baseball is tough work, but four years after Oklahoma Christian revived its baseball program, the signs of progress clearly are evident.

Under fifth-year coach Chuck White, OC has improved its SAC win total each season – six in 2008, 10 in 2009, 11 in 2010 and 16 last season. In 2011, for the first time since the university brought the program back in 2008 after a seven-year hiatus, OC posted winning overall (25-20) and SAC (16-14) records and the Eagles reached the conference tournament, beating eventual NAIA tournament entrant Rogers State in pool play.

Now White hopes the Eagles are ready to take the next step, which would be contending for a top-four finish in the toughest conference in the NAIA.

In a league that sent four teams to the NAIA tournament and three to the NAIA World Series last season, that will be a major challenge, but it’s one White and the Eagles are ready to work toward despite heavy graduation losses. OC will have the advantage this season of the use of the new Bobby Murcer Indoor Training Facility, arguably the best indoor facility in the SAC, if not all of Oklahoma college baseball.

“For us, I have several different goals,” White said. “One of the things I feel very strongly about in this day and time … is in order for you to be successful, you’ve got to have the right equipment. That’s why I feel like our facility development was so important. If I’m looking at baseball as a business, then I need to equip myself to be able to go and do multiple things at a high level.”

The 12 seniors on last year’s team essentially helped White build the program from scratch, and three seniors (each of whom redshirted) remain from White’s original bunch of recruits. Two of them figure to be in the starting lineup Sunday, when the Eagles host St. Mary (Kan.) in their season opener – pitcher Ryan Morris and catcher Chris Miller.

“We’re rebuilding, but at least we’ve got a nucleus of some guys who’ve been there,” White said. “Four years ago, we didn’t have anybody. … This is an extremely competitive conference. It’s a tough conference, but if you’re competitive, it’s the kind of conference you want to be in.”

Morris (2-1, 3.67 ERA last season) and sophomore Ryan Nash (3-1, 5.82) will lead OC’s pitching rotation, but White remains unsure of who the Eagles’ No. 3 starter will be, at least until 6-foot-10 right-hander Will Reinke (3-1, 9.72) is finished with his duties with OC’s basketball team sometime in March. The team’s third redshirt senior, Derek James, is coming off a shoulder injury but could start some games for the Eagles, along with a pair of freshmen, left-hander Kelby Reneau and right-hander Jacob Stevenson.

Leading the bullpen will be a pair of seniors, righty Harrison Mendez and lefty Heath Orndorff. Freshman Luke Sandoval and sophomore Davis Matlock could also provide relief help.

Miller didn’t play last season but is a veteran catcher, with sophomore Wes Dorough a solid backup. If he’s not catching, Dorough figures to be the Eagles’ designated hitter. Another catcher, freshman Daniel Thompson, could see spot action behind the plate or at DH.

OC will have an entirely new starting lineup on the infield. A pair of freshmen, Tanner Hessman and Cody Alsup, will compete for the first-base job, while junior transfer Evan Draper will be the second baseman. Sophomore Garrett Stephenson, a reserve last season, will step into a starting job at shortstop and juco transfer Jerry Owen will man third base for the Eagles.

There will be plenty of experience in the outfield. Juniors Heath Steele (.258, 14 RBIs, 3 HR) and Dillon Andrews (.374, 21 RBIs, 1 HR) return in left field and center field, respectively, while last season’s ace infield supersub, Caleb Price (.301, 16 RBIs, 2 HRs), will be the team’s right fielder.

The most important thing this season, White said, is that his players continue to progress, both on and off the field. Having a group of returnees who experienced last year’s success will help.

“We finished fifth in the conference last year,” White said. “Before that, we didn’t even finish in the conference tournament. The maturity of the players is a big deal, it really is, but the ability to prepare our athletes will get us further down the road, too.

“I think we’ve got some very quality young men. They’re going to have to work hard. They’re going to have to step up. They’re going to have to grow and mature both personally and on the field for us to be able to achieve at the level we want.”

EAGLE EYE BLOG

Chuck White’s final home game

This video features scenes from Chuck White’s final home game as OC’s head baseball coach. Coach White was the driving force in the revival of the baseball program and the construction of Dobson Field and the Bobby Murcer Indoor Training Facility.

OC Softball vs. Oklahoma Baptist—April 28, 2012

OC Baseball vs. Mid-America Christian—April 26, 2012