NORMAN, Okla. —
Cody Reine was right at the heart of Oklahoma’s charmed run to the College World Series two seasons ago, earning a series of playful nicknames as he slugged the Sooners all the way to Omaha.
When the hits stopped coming, he got to experience how the other side of the postseason feels.
The Sooners made it to college baseball’s premier event in 2010 when no one had predicted much from them, then fell flat last season with two straight upset losses and the earliest possible exit from the NCAA tournament after starting the year with so much promise.
“Having the year we had was just a real let down. Personally, I felt like it was the lowest I’ve ever been in my life. It was so disappointing,” Reine said. “It makes you really take a step back and realize the things that you’ve had and the things that you went through.”
Reine and the Oklahoma veterans who have experienced both the highs and the lows head into Friday’s season opener at Pepperdine hoping they’ve learned the right lessons to make this season less like 2011 and more like two seasons ago.
“After being up so high, you’ve got to take stuff from that too and realize what it takes to be that winning team that goes a long ways and then you realize the next year that it can be gone just like that,” infielder Caleb Bushyhead said, snapping his fingers. “You’re that team that’s on the slide, going downhill.
“Between all the veterans guys we have returning, I think we have a good understanding of what it takes to be that team that’s winning and going uphill. Hopefully, we’ll be able to guide the team in that direction.”
Reine, who earned the nicknames “Fat Panda” and “Fat Cody” from his teammates while hitting four home runs in super regional play two seasons ago, has slimmed down some and switched to an Easton bat instead of Nike to try and regain some of the 2010 magic.
To get back to that successful run, coach Sunny Golloway believes this year won’t come down to any one player but to everyone committing to what serves the whole team best.
“If they’ll believe in the system and trust the system, the system works and it was proven in 2010. Every guy in our lineup was not afraid to bunt the ball and then all of a sudden, a lot of the same guys, they have numbers and they have things going for them and it’s draft-eligible year,” Golloway said.
“Things change. It’s just the way it is. They’re young men. So, I look at the focus this year being much better.”
Oklahoma had a program record 11 players taken in the major league draft after last season, including top hitter Cameron Seitzer and leading RBI man Garrett Buechele — both the sons of former big leaguers. The Sooners were the top hitting team in the Big 12 at .313 but struggled to get timely hits and produce runs when it mattered the most.
They ended up losing five of their final six games and getting eliminated from the NCAA tournament after losses to Dallas Baptist and Oral Roberts.
“We’ve always been very, very good offensively but that doesn’t always equal winning ballgames. It’s timely hitting, it’s manufacturing runs and I feel like down the stretch the one thing we didn’t do is we weren’t able to be fundamentally sound offensively,” Golloway said.
“We had talented hitters throughout the lineup last year but sometimes it would just come down to being able to bunt a guy up.”
Only five regulars are back from the lineup and Golloway believes this year’s strength will be on the mound. Junior college transfers Jonathan Gray and Steven Okert join lefty Dillon Overton in the starting rotation, and Golloway believes his bullpen could go as many as 12 pitchers deep.
Transfer Damien Magnifico, whose fastball has been clocked at over 100 mph, assumes the closer’s role.
Big 12 coaches picked Oklahoma to finish third in the conference, and the Sooners are ranked between 14th and 19th in national polls. Those expectations don’t mean much to this team, though, after how the past two seasons panned out.
“From two years ago, we went from no one expecting us to do anything to being at the highest level. No one expected us to be there, so it was a great feeling. Then last year, we kicked the ball around and we didn’t do things that we should have done, so we had a really disappointing season,” Reine said.
“This year, I think the guys that are returning that have been through the ups and the downs really know how hard it’s going to be and how much work we need to put in to be able to reach that College World Series again.”
Sports
February 16, 2012
Sooners seek return to Omaha after early NCAA exit
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Miners, Carl Junction split American Legion doubleheader
Joplin's Nate Brummer dives back into first base before Carl Junction's Jaron Hulette can apply the tag during their American Legion baseball game at Joe Becker Stadium.
Bryce Ash’s two-run single capped a four-run fourth inning in Joplin’s 8-6 victory against Carl Junction in the second game of an American Legion doubleheader Thursday night at Joe Becker Stadium.
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