Guthrie Baseball so far on the right path

Ending the first month of the high school baseball season, the Guthrie BlueJays are right where they want to be if the season were to end today. Hosting a 5A regional.   

Jaden Chappell, who will be playing baseball next season at Cowley County, makes a throw across the dimaond.

The month of April has yet to hit and the strength of schedule has yet to hit as well, but overall the 9-2 Jays have passed the early March test.   

The first 11 games of the schedule will not be considered the toughest in the state, but it was a good start to the season considering Bluejays had two starters join the team just before the start of the first game.   

Most teams in high school beef up their schedule around the month of April after having a month of games under their belts and preparing for the playoff run. Of course, if you play in the Suburban Conference you can schedule a hand full of blind teams and still have a difficult schedule.   

For the majority of the season, the 5A rankings have had Carl Albert, Deer Creek, and Chickasha ranked 1, 2, 3 in the rankings. This week they are 1, 2, and 4.   

Bryan Dutton "B-Dut" is playing another major role as a freshmen. This time on the daimond.

Shawnee remains in the conference despite playing now in 6A and while they may not be as talented as years past they still are a tough program to play. Not sure the last time I recall a state tournament without their attendance. I know its been at least four years.   

The Jays will also see 6A schools like Ponca City, Norman, Choctaw, and possibly another 6A team like Stillwater or Sand Springs in the Choctaw Tournament as well as McGuinness at home. Then it will be back to the conference grindstone with powers such as Deer Creek, Carl Albert, and Chickasha toward the end of the regular season.  

The Jays will play Deer Creek twice, Carl Albert and Chickasha once and two of the four games will be split home and away. Guthrie will know where they stand after those four games have been played. Does it make or break their season? No, but we will find out how Guthrie compares to the best in 5A,  because many have the Antlers, Titans, and Chicks as the best in 5A yet alone on this side of the state, and rightfully so.  

Many have written those three teams in for hosting a regional, leaving just one precious regional spot open. Guthrie, Lawton MacArthur, and Ardmore are believed to fight it out. Guthrie and their schedule will not only give them every opportunity to host a regional, but improve their regional seed depending on how they do against the Big 3.  

The Jays have the tools to host a regional and make state, but regional baseball is just  

The BlueJays are off to a 9-2 start and 5-0 in conference, but the Jays have bigger ideas.

 plain and simple a different animal. You have to be playing well and have a touch of luck in that span of three days, but you have to be good too.   

Guthrie’s line up presents speed and power. Corbin Crockett, Luke Davis, and Bryan Dutton have made a habit of getting on base and stealing a base to get in to scoring position. Dustin Bowman has moved to the right side of the batters box and is giving head coach Jon Chappell a boost in the bottom of the line up.   

The middle of the line up has plenty of pop with John Cotton, Jaden Chappell, Hayden Seifert and Landry Chappell. They will be expected to drive in runs no matter how they do it.   

Perhaps the most important item for playoff success is pitching, pitching, and more pitching. This is where the Jays will need to compete hard when the Big 3 come up on the schedule and playoff time.   

The nice option that Jon Chappell has is when he moves someone to the mound the defense does not fall apart with their depth with multiple players being able to play multiple positions.   

Again, pitching. Crockett, Bobo, Cotton, Seifert, and maybe Dutton are going have to be at their best when they face the best and thus far they have done that with this season and this past summer when they played in the finals against Carl Albert.