Stillwater Pioneers Baseball – Presented by Ortho Oklahoma

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By Ryan Stone

The Stillwater High School baseball team is primed for a big year. The Pioneers are off to an 8-4 start this season and are 3-3 in district play. They also recently went 3-1 in the Gulf Shores Tournament in Alabama.

“I have nine seniors, I like the way they all get along and take care of each other. They are also very coachable and a fun bunch. The teams I’ve had in the past like that are the ones that do the best. They’re buying into our coaching and that’s probably what I like about them the most,” said head coach Jimmy Harris.

The Pioneers are led by a loaded pitching staff that features college signees. Eli Riggs and Caden Pogue will pitch at Hutchinson Community College. Caleb Case and Cole Miller will pitch at Cowley County Community College. First baseman and outfielder Jackson Meyer will go on to play his college ball at Coffeyville Community College. Third basemen Jackson Ford is also receiving college interest and coach Harris says his starting center fielder Michael Lauvetz is one of the best defensive players he’s ever coached.

Stillwater baseball

Coach Harris is also really high on some of his younger players including freshman shortstop Jackson Holliday, who is the son of longtime MLB Player Matt Holliday. Harris also believes his junior second basemen, Braedyn Sommer, is a borderline division one talent. The pioneers starting third baseman sophomore Louie Coca, whose dad played at Oklahoma State.

The amount of talent Stillwater has this season has led to big expectations

“We’d like to host a regional, which is still doable,” said Harris, “we’d also like to get to the state tournament and win the 6A State Championship.”

Coach Harris loves his team and thinks that the biggest thing they need to achieve their goals is experience.

“We just need to be consistent and stick to the process. You can always improve, we need to cut our strikeouts down and we just need to get better each day. Because we got a new turf field on March 1 we haven’t played that much, so we just need to play. In baseball unlike other sports, the best team on paper doesn’t always win. In past years in 6A it’s usually the hottest team so at the end of April and early May we need to be pitching, hitting, and defending well,” said Harris.