The Sapulpa baseball team completed its summer league schedule having grown a lot in numerous areas and with a good feel for what next season will look like.
Throughout June, the Chieftains played games on a varsity, junior varsity and junior high levels and ended up compiling a 22-11-5 overall record across the three teams. But beyond the wins and losses, which were not really the emphasis, it was the valuable competition that a lot of the younger players received and the building of team chemistry that were the most important aspects of the summer schedule.
“We played mostly 7-and-5 double-headers (where the first game is seven innings and the second five innings), we played a couple of nine-inning games, and we finished up in Oologah with two five-inning games and we won both of those,” said Chieftains assistant coach Marshall McPherson.
With a number of graduating seniors lost from the Sapulpa squad that went 29-10 and advanced to the Class 5A state semifinals for the second straight year back in May, the summer league helped the coaching staff get a look at younger players who could fill those holes in the lineup.
The summer also featured an interesting coaching staff swap, as head coach Steve Irvine turned control of the varsity squad over to second-year assistant coach Marshall McPherson, while Irvine and assistant Riley Tincher handled the JV team and assistant John Rains guided the Junior High group.
“I thought the summer league went really good,” said McPherson of the varsity squad. “We lost a lot of seniors, of course, so it’s going to mostly be a different ball team that you see on the field. It was a really good opportunity for younger guys. We have about four freshmen right now that played on the summer team with us and they had big impacts this summer.”
McPherson identified Jensen Penn, Tyler Sparks, Ryan Angel and Logan Mason as the incoming freshmen who impressed the coaches and will likely have significant roles on the team next season.
“Jensen’s one of the freshmen, Tyler Sparks is our second freshman, I think he’s going to be a big utility player for us, hopefully,” McPherson said. “The other two freshmen are going to be Ryan Angel and Logan Mason – those are the four freshmen that were getting looks for us this summer. We’re going to be a young team, but we’re going to be a very good young team, if that makes sense.”
And with the Chieftains’ pitching staff decimated by the graduation of ace Joe Young, along with fellow starters Josh Hobbs and Hayden Lance, a trio that accounted for 19 victories – and 23 starts – on the mound last season, Sapulpa got a good look at some of the players who will be next season’s starters. Braxton Jones, who started the 2023 season opener but missed the rest of the season due to injury, will be back as a senior starter, but the rest of the staff is somewhat of a question mark. The summer league helped sort out what they have on the mound.
“We’re going to be really young on the pitching staff this year and I think Braxton Jones is going to be leading that pitching staff,” McPherson said. “He’s that tall, right-handed pitcher that was mostly out all season this year but he’s going to be healthy this year and be one of our main starters. Jack Blevins is obviously going to be our catcher, but he’s also going to be in the equation to be one of our pitchers. So we’re going to have younger pitchers, such as Aaron Roberts, Jaxon Penn, and Jensen Penn, Jaxon’s younger brother.”
The summer league was the perfect opportunity to let those unproven pitchers, as well as the incoming freshmen, face varsity-level competition.
“It’s mostly for giving those guys that need those varsity reps and they really didn’t get those in the spring,” McPherson said. “The summertime is a relaxed setting where they get to see varsity talent. I think they responded well to that.”
As for the coaching staff swaps, Irvine explained his philosophy of wanting to have every member of the staff more closely involved with all the teams.
“We want to maintain a program here at Sapulpa, not just a good team. ‘Success doesn’t graduate’ is something I tell the players all the time,” Irvine said. “It’s important that my staff members can get eyes on, develop, and build relationships with all players. I think it also helps for our players to work with different coaches sometimes, as well.”
McPherson enjoyed the opportunity to be the man in charge of the varsity team, making all the major decisions, all while developing closer connections to the players.
“It gives Irv a chance to back off and let his assistants learn some things,” McPherson said of the coaching shuffle. “It’s kind of a head coaching role at that point, you’re controlling things and you’re putting the lineup out and it gives a chance for all of us coaches to grow a little bit and learn a little more about the sport. It was a really fun opportunity for me to spend time by myself with these guys and just really get to know them just a whole lot more. You get to build those relationships with those kids, and they get that one-on-one time with a coach that maybe they don’t know so well.”
