Owasso Seniors Sign To Play College Baseball
By MIKE MOGUIN
GTR Sports Writer
BOYS OF SUMMER: From left, Owasso baseball players Trevor Martin (Seminole State College), Hayden Tallman (Central Oklahoma), Connor Beichler (Oklahoma), Cam Thompson (Oklahoma State) and Sam Thompson (TCU) sign national letters of intent on Nov. 14.
Photo courtesy Owasso High School Athletic Department
Owasso is a baseball power machine. It sent numerous players to the college and professional ranks through the years and it has five more going that way after signing national letters of intent recently. Three of them are headed to the Big 12, with two choosing to remain in state.
Left fielder Cam Thompson will be playing at Oklahoma State University, while short stop Connor Beichler is bound for the University of Oklahoma. Sam Thompson (no relation to Cam) will be crossing the Red River to play for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. Other players who signed were Hayden Tallman (University of Central Oklahoma) and Trevor Martin (Seminole State College).
These guys have high expectations for the 2019 season, which will be their senior campaign. But, looking ahead, they know that new chapters begin when they go to their respective schools this summer.
“It’s weird because we’ve been friends since sixth grade. We’ve always told each other we wanted to go and play D-I baseball,” Cam Thompson said. “We didn’t know where our paths would take us, but once we decided on our schools, we decided it was going to be fun to see them on the other side of the field instead of on the same team.”
“It will be different, because I’ve known Cameron and Connor all my life,” Sam Thompson said. “We’ve grown up playing on the same tee-ball teams and now we’re playing on the same high school teams. Now we’re going to be in the same conference and we’re going to be seeing each other even more, just in the opposite dugout. All of us are super competitive, so I think it’ll bring out a different edge in us, knowing we want those bragging rights.”
These current Rams hope to make it to Major League Baseball just like Owasso graduate Dylan Bundy has. So, what drew them to make the decision to go to each of their chosen schools?
“It was a ‘feel’ thing,” Sam Thompson said. “Other places I visited, I felt like it wasn’t necessarily the place I want to be. But then I get on the () campus and I saw a different aspect of what the coaches were saying and the whole atmosphere of Ft. Worth and what it had to offer, and how it can set me up down the road in my future with baseball. So, it was knowing that that’s the place I needed to be and knowing that if I do go there, then I’ll be set up – whether I choose baseball or get my degree and pursue something else. is a place that could set me up for my future.”
Sam Thompson chose over Tennessee, Arizona, and OU.
Beichler picked OU over Arkansas and . But, he knew going into high school that Norman would be his college destination.
The Sooner coaching staff, led by head coach Skip Johnson, also weighed in.
“When they got a new coaching staff, I fell in love with them and the program,” Beichler said. “I love what they are trying to do. They just felt like the right fit for me.”
Cam Thompson chose Oklahoma State for the same reasons.
“I just grew to love the coaching staff,” he said. “I love the program itself. They can get you to the next level where I want to be. I want to get drafted. I want to go play professional baseball and the atmosphere there just feels like home. It just felt right for me. The coaches are really nice, they know what they’re doing. I felt like they’re going to be the ones that will mold me into the person I want to be.”
Cam Thompson chose over Texas Tech, Wichita State, Kansas State, Kansas and Arizona. He is also excited about the new baseball facility being built in Stillwater and believes it is going to be one of the best in the country.
However, in the meantime, the trio and the rest of their Ram teammates are hoping to capture something that Owasso has become accustomed to winning, but which has eluded this class: a state championship.
The Rams last won state in 2015. The current players were in elementary and middle school at that time. Since then, Owasso was downed in the first round in ’16 and ’17 and fell in the semifinals to Westmoore last year.
“It kind of hurts for me, because we haven’t won a state championship and that’s always the goal,” Sam Thompson said. “Those losing moments kind of outshine the season.”
The guys want that to change so they can hold up a state trophy in May.
The key, Sam Thompson believes, will be to keep the intensity, focus and energy up and not let anything be a distraction throughout the year.
“We need to keep improving within ourselves,” Beichler said. “We’re really playing against ourselves. We must continue to play more as a team and come together. You don’t need all the best guys, but, if you play as a team, you can do a lot of damage. It really comes down to pitching matchups as you get deeper into the season. We have to bear down and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played in order to win.”
The Rams see Westmoore and Jenks to be the toughest hurdles in their quest this season.
Updated 01-18-2019
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