Morgan, young Outlaws celebrating State title

Look down the Marlow baseball roster and the first thing you notice is that there are just two seniors on the club, so how could this young team beat the best of Class 4A to claim the state baseball championship last weekend?

It was pretty simple according to Marlow head coach John Morgan after his team had completed the tough march Saturday afternoon that was capped by a 3-2 victory over Blanchard, a school with nearly 600 more students.

“Sometimes the thing you want when you are trying to buck youth is with hunger and that’s what this bunch had,” Morgan said Tuesday after letting the accomplishment resonate with the veteran skipper. “All 24 of these kids cared about each other and the thing they worried about was just winning. They didn’t think about their own stats; they didn’t think about anything and that was the goal of winning state.

“I don’t know what the exact formula would look like after this but if I could bottle it and sell it I could get rich.”

Tuesday, though, the coach was feeling as blessed as any amount of money could offer him.

The thing about these kids is just what the coach said, it was all about “toughness and a great culture” as his club won the title game in the finals all three runs were driven in by freshman.

“That’s pretty amazing to see young players come up with huge plays like that but this group made big plays in the field on defense, they made big plays at the plate and we got great pitching,” Morgan said.

The guy doing the pitching Saturday was one of those two seniors, Mason Holding.

“His dad Brook (Holding) played at OSU (Oklahoma State) and he came to town and started working with our younger kids,” Morgan said. “He’s been a big supporter of our program. Mason has thrown in some big games for us including coming in as a freshman against Weatherford with us down 4-0, the bases loaded and no outs.

“We bring him in to pitch and he holds them down for five or six innings and we found a way to come back and end that game. He’s just been a great competitor and he finds a way to get the job done.”

Holding wasn’t super sharp early, walking the leadoff batter, giving up a single and hitting a batter to load the bases. But after giving up a pair of sacrifices to score two runs, Holding got a big strikeout to keep the Blanchard lead at 2-0.

The Outlaws came right back to score a single run in the top of the second and it stayed that way until the top of the sixth when Marlow grabbed the lead.

“Jacob Crosson puts down that perfect bunt that moved those two runners into second and third,” Morgan said. “Jaxon Miller then hit that deep sacrifice fly and while we got the first run, (Blayd) Harris did a great job moving to third on that play. We always try and break down the field and cut it in half and he read that perfectly when the ball went into right. He tagged up and that was huge.

“Then another freshman, Jaxon Murray, comes up and hits that single over first and we get that run because young players just made big plays for us. Things sometimes just work out.”

So, just who are these Outlaws?

“Blayd Harris plays third for us and his younger brother Austin was our DH in the finals,” Morgan said. “Both are program kids they are where they need to be and they get the job done. Our first baseman, Dawson Baker is another great clubhouse kid. His grandpa coached here. He just keeps us going. There in that game when we were hanging on and trying to get them out, he’s the one who said he’s going to be the last one holding the rope which came from an old story about Skip Bergman at LSU.

“I had told them that story at a banquet when our speaker didn’t make it in time and I wondered if anyone remembered that and sure enough it was Dawson.”

Freshman Clint Ladon made a huge play to field a ball and throw home for a big out in that clutch inning and shortstop Hudson Morgan made some big plays at shortstop.

“Hudson is really a go-to guy for us even though he’s a sophomore,” Morgan said. “He’s a guys who keeps everyone going and he’s probably the hardest worker we have.”

In the title game at the spacious Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, the outfielders were critically important.

“Jaxon Murray is in left an he’s an unbelievable defender. We had a game in the super regional where he goes and lays out for a ball and makes a great catch,” Morgan said., “In center is Jacob Crosson whose dad coaches football and he is a kid who has a high ceiling. There was a time he wasn’t hitting but we needed his glove and he was batting in the 9-hole.

“But he got his bat going and came back to be our 4-hole hitter and he has speed like you can’t believe; the guy can fly.”

Sophomore Wyatt Osburn covers right and he’s played a big role.

“He’s a sophomore who works extra hard; he’s a worker bee who handles right well and just does a great job,” Morgan said.

Morgan said that speed in the outfield was a key but so was a boost from the weather.

“Offensively we played with the wind coming out of the north at our park and during that month we harped on playing small ball; hitting line drives, bunting guys around. We knew that could be important. Teams like Blanchard have a smaller park and out there Saturday our speed was a huge factor.”

Case in point came in the bottom of the seventh with the Lions getting the leadoff batter to third on a walk and two-base error.

“They had that guy on third but Crosson comes on fast and makes a great catch for the first out and that gives us some hope,” Morgan said. “Holding gets a big strikeout and then Crosson makes another big catch, this one going back to chase down a ball in deep center to seal the outcome.”

The catcher, Jackson Miller, has an interesting story.

“His mom Mandy Harvey was a catcher when Marlow girls won a state title and he’s a great hitter and does an amazing job behind the plate,” Morgan said. “He hit over .400 for us with a great deal of power.”

Blayd Harris got the pitching win against Hilldale in the opener, then Hudson Morgan got the win over Tuttle and Holding went the distance in the finals.

“I told the kids at our exit meeting that not every experience is going to be the same, there will always be different challenges,” Morgan said. “Just think, we are the smallest school in 4A with 360 kids in high school. Blanchard had like 740 and Tuttle has somewhere around that number. To compete with programs from much bigger schools is something to be proud about.

“The thing that makes us successful is a blue-collar toughness. We had 22 of our 24 play football and 18 of these kids either played basketball or wrestling. It creates an edge when you have that toughness and this bunch had plenty of that.”

Morgan gives a good deal of the credit to assistants Ed Herchock and Trey Coffman.

“Ed is the steady, calming influence on the staff,” Morgan said. “He handles all the pitching, he does mound visits and he takes a great deal of that work which allows me to work on the offense. He’s a guy who doesn’t want the attention but he’s sure a vital cog in this deal.

“Trey is in his second year and his father George was a former superintendent here. He’s done an amazing job with our outfield.”

Morgan also thanked junior high coach Trevor Hudgins.

“Coach Hudgins came up and helped us when their season was winding down,” Morgan said. “He’s just been named to the Lindsay High School job and we wish him the best. I hate to lose him but I glad he’s getting a good job. He will be a good one for them.”

While Morgan didn’t want to take much credit, he’s proud of the milestone win, his first as a head coach.

“Sure, it’s something that I’ve hoped to accomplish on a personal level and when you’ve had chances before and not won, it’s back there in your mind,” he said. “But I always wanted to not think about winning a title but about being the same person. I was wondering if the Good Lord was ever going to bless me and he did and it shows God does work miracles.”

And this week the people at Marlow are just happy that Morgan found his way into their program and helped bring home the school’s first state baseball title.