Fletcher’s youth programs making waves

Hayden Herrin was like many area athletes, he left his hometown of Fletcher for a time as he and wife Ashley built their careers, but they eventually decided to return to the town he knows and loves to raise his family.

The two-sport All-State star in basketball and baseball said it was the right thing to do and now the work of he and many others is paying off in success in youth sports.

“We did move away for a time to work but once we started having kids we just wanted to be here in the community we love,” Herrin said. “One of the things we wanted to do was work with the young kids and try to build a good youth program.”

Herrin was the driving force in a youth basketball program that got so popular that they had to cut it back some but this summer the Fletcher youth program is sending seven teams into the OK Kids Regionals including the 10U baseball event that Fletcher will be hosting.

Herrin found the love of his life at what one might expect, a basketball game.

“My team was playing in a tournament against her uncles (Danny and David Garza) and that’s when I met her,” Herrin said. “The rest as they say is history.”

He has plenty of good help including brother-in-law Eric Garza, an assistant baseball coach at Elgin, who is helping coach in the Fletcher youth program.

“We started with one 6U team and we’ve kept them together since,” Herrin said. “These kids all come from local natives of this area. Steve Dacus has a grandson on our team, Andrew Villa has a son on this team and we have other guys who played here with kids on teams.”

Herrin also doubles up by coaching the 6U team that has already advanced to State. Bobby McCracken coaches the 8U Gold team that will compete in a regional that includes the Fletcher 8U White coached by Marty Maahs, another Fletcher-area product.

The regional Fletcher is hosting includes the Gold 10U team coached by Herrin and the White 10U team coached by TJ Acker.

Rounding out the list of regional teams is Fletcher 12U, which is coached by Kenneth Sword.

And softball is making progress in Fletcher as Acker’s 8U team has already advanced to the OK Kids State softball tournament.

The 10U teams will be hosting their regional tournament beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday at the newly-refurbished field just east of the Fletcher Fairgrounds on the north side of town.

“We took the old high school field and did a bunch of renovations, cutting out new regulation base paths and we have it in tip-top shape for the regional,” Herrin said.

The first game at 2 p.m. matches Altus and Fletcher White and at 3:30 p.m. Newcastle faces Hollis.

The winners of the first two games will then face the top seeds with the Altus-Fletcher White winner meeting the E Ducks at 5 p.m. followed by the Newcastle-Hollis winner facing the Fletcher Gold team coached by Herrin.

The event continues Friday morning and will wrap up with the title game at 8 p.m. Friday.

Herrin’s team is the older group of kids while Acker’s club includes younger kids in the 10U age group.

“The key at this level is to have pitchers who can throw strikes and all 10 of my kids can step in a pitch,” Herrin said. “Zeka (Herrin’s son), Tyler McCracken, Landon Avila and Kale Bicker are the guys who do most of the pitching but having all 10 kids capable of throwing strikes is the key.

“Our White team has really played well. They competed in our league and finished with a 9-4 or 9-5 record and that bunch has some pitchers who can also throw strikes.”

Herrin said many people have stepped up to help the local effort to support the youth.

“Everyone has been great about wanting to help with our programs,” he said. “We bid on this 10U regional and we got this one and we are eager to welcome everyone to our field. One thing we have is as good a concession stand as I’ve seen. We have some great volunteers who will have chicken strip baskets, hamburgers, hot dogs and even snow cones.”

Herrin was eager to talk about more than just the baseball and softball success.

“I think Fletcher is starting to come back,” Herrin said. “Our high school basketball and baseball programs are improving, our FFA chapter is striving with two members winning the speech contest, our school has some great teachers like Mrs. (Devilla) Watts who just ended a 60-year career teaching, and our administration is great.

“We are also seeing some new businesses opening up, a coffee shop, cafe and other businesses are coming back. We are all eager to see the town keep showing progress.”