Terrell Lester ... Scouting Around

May 15, 2008 09:46 am

— Scouting around ... With Owasso, Bixby and Sperry winning championships this week, it could be concluded that Tulsa County owns high school baseball in Oklahoma.
It is the third time in five years that Tulsa County has produced three state champions in baseball in the same season.
That comes while Oklahoma is playing baseball in seven classifications.
Back in 1978, when there were five classes for baseball, Tulsa County crowned three champions. And seven other times in the five-class era, the county produced two championship teams within the same season.
In 1961, when there were four classes for baseball, Tulsa Public Schools (Edison and Webster) won two of the championships.
Closer to home, Claremore and Oologah gave Rogers County a double championship in 2005. ...
Oklahoma City McGuinness finished the school year with eight — eight — state championship teams. The school collected seven last year.
Claremore and Oologah have the majority of team state championships among Rogers County schools and they can’t match over the years what McGuinness has accomplished in two years.
Oologah has 14 team state championships, beginning with the 1961 volleyball title. Claremore has collected a total of 12 state championships.
The rest of the Rogers County schools might be hard-pressed to come up with 15 state championships among them. ...
While McGuinness was defeating Claremore Sequoyah last week in the girls soccer semifinals, en route to the 4A championship, one local coach brought up the subject of private schools.
That has long been a topic of conversation — and consternation — among public school coaches.
The McGuinness director of athletics, Gary Savely, addressed such comments in The Oklahoman this week.
He said that ignores the anti-private school sentiments of others.
“For some people, it’s just easier to say ‘They’re only good because they’re a private school,’” Savely was quoted in the newspaper. “There’s some jealousy, but for the most part, I believe people really respect us.” ...
Johnny Bench hasn’t spent a lot of time in Oklahoma in recent years, but the good folks in Binger want to use his name to promote his hometown.
Apparently, Binger has come up with a plan to honor the Hall of Fame catcher and to inject some life into its own community.
Bench graduated in 1965 from Binger, in Caddo County, some 65 miles west of Oklahoma City, and then spent 17 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.
“It’s more of an economic-development program,” Binger businessman Dean Crain said. “A save-the-town-of-Binger economic project, because our town is dwindling.”
Crain says the proposed museum also would pay homage to other major-league players, particularly those from southwestern Oklahoma. But its primary subject will be Bench.
Land has been donated in Binger, and a $1-million fundraising effort will take off shortly. ...
A former resident of Claremore, David Finning, recently accepted a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Oklahoma. Finning is the son of Scott and Debra Finning and attends Cypress Falls High School in Houston.
OU coach Mark Williams said he expects Finning to have an immediate impact on the program. "David is a guy that, once he develops a little bit more, could really be an important part of our team," Williams said. "I like his athletic ability and I certainly think he can be a contributor in the all-around when he comes in." ...