EAGLE TENACITY: OKWU baseballers clawed and battled through adversity to carve out success

Trying to put a loop of definition around the 2022 Oklahoma Wesleyan University baseball team is like trying to lasso a cloud.

When they stumbled, they REALLY stumbled.

When they excelled, they REALLY excelled.

But, there was one tenacious theme that resonated through every vicissitude of the enigmatic journey — tenacious resolve.

Five-game losing streak, five game winning streak — it didn’t matter. This steely group of plucky paladins always left it all out on the field.

The final result was pretty good — a 38-19 record, a gritty run in the conference tournament and deep consideration for an at-large berth in the national tourney.

“I think every team has its own identity,” veteran OKWU baseball skipper Kirk Kelley said. “We just get going. We kept having adversity, but we kept playing hard. We gave ourselves a chance.”

Honestly, there was a time in the season the Eagles didn’t appear to have a chance.

That occurred in the first 10 days in March when they belly-flopped into Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play with five-straight losses.

To start the KCAC — arguably the nation’s toughest regular season conference in the NAIA — at 0-5 could be akin to eating spaghetti with a spoon.

The Eagles dug in, however, and did their best.

They scraped to above .500 (10-9) in conference — only to go on another three-game conference slide to fall to 10-12 nearly two weeks into April.

Quit?

The Eagles didn’t flinch.

They thundered to a 12-1 record their 11 regular season games to finish at 37-16 overall and 20-13 in conference.

The Eagles swooped into the KCAC postseason tourney as the hottest team in the conference.

In game one, they knocked off Friends, 7-3.

But, then the ride ended with back-to-back one-run losses to Ottawa, 3-2, and to Kansas Wesleyan, 7-6.

Had OKWU turned one of those games around, it might have well earned an at-large spot in the NAIA national tourney. But “ifs” are spilled sugar down the kitchen drain — only a sweet idea.

Kelley didn’t play with a full deck of available from the start.

Returning starting infielder/big bat A’Darius Council, power hitter Jordan Smith and pitcher Mike Mendoza all were unable to play.

Coming on top of graduation losses from the previous year’s team (49 wins, NAIA World Series appearance), and Kelley had a lot of moving parts to replace going into the ’22 campaign.

And, the more new parts, the longer the role-defining and team chemistry adjustments.

Thank goodness for Cody MUncy.

“(Muncy) had another fantastic year,” Kelley said about his veteran slugger.

Muncy fueled the offense with a .397 batting average, 16 doubles, 16 homers, 60 RBIs, 50 walks and 53 runs scored.

Two other returning starters that spearheaded the offensive attack were Seth Delgado and Nicholas Chavez. The previous season, they had been a two-headed weapon as rotating catchers.

But, Kelley decided that this past campaign he needed Chavez’ bat in the lineup every day. He moved him to the outfield and gave Chavez primary catching duties.

Both responded with a firm affirmative.

Delgado tied Muncy in RBIs (60), blasted 14 homers, lashed 19 doubles, scored 65 runs and batted .391.

“Moving Delgado to the outfield was a big plus,” Kelley said.

Chavez batted .359, delivered 11 doubles, contributed three homers and 30 RBIs — superlative numbers for a catcher.

“I thought Nick Chavez was arguably the best catcher in the league,” Kelley added.

When he came to pitching the ball, Cloud praised the mound presence of second-year Eagle Kellen Brothers.

As far as graduation losses off this team, Muncy, pitcher Oracio De Leon, pitcher Austin Berglund and pitcher Chase Hux could be the most costly, Kelley said.

But, with the return of some ineligible and injured players from last season, the influx of fresh talent and the development of the players already in the program, “We've got a chance to be right back where we want to be,” Kelley said.

He singled out a regular season win against Bellevue and the long winning streak at the end of the season as highlights.

Mostly, he lauded his boys’ determination in the shark-like jaws of adversity.

“This team just kept going,” he said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Focus on Oklahoma Wesleyan University baseball team