TUPATALK: OKWU has hired several winners
Oklahoma Wesleyan University’s has been blessed to attract some incredible new coaches throughout the 2000s, guys & gals who were in tune with what the program needed and they grasp it and built some of the nation’s top programs.
Donnie Bostwick (men’s basketball) and Kirk Kelley (baseball) both guided their respective teams to national titles their second seasons — Bostwick in 2008-09 (NAIA-II) and Kelley in 2010-11 (NCCAA).
Kelley coached elsewhere for seven seasons (2012-18), during which time Matt Parker accumulated more than 300 wins and two appearances in the NAIA World Series.
Barney Hay also left in indelible impression on the OKWU women’s basketball, including a NCCAA title. Jamie Peterson has navigated the men’s soccer team to the cusp of a crown, including a finals’ game appearance, and numerous national quarterfinal spots-or-higher. Vladan Glavonic and Ivan Ristic had each made OKWU women’s soccer a national power during their tenures.
Tracie Gillette has mentored the volleyball team to high heights and the best is yet to come.
Softball so appears on a historic trajectory this year.
Coaches of the more individual sports, such as wrestling’s Thomas Carr, also deserve kudos — and the school deserves praise for locating them.
What makes the significance of team ball coaches I mentioned above, the long-term ones, is their programs have maintain excellence year-in-and-year-out, regardless of graduation losses.
Kelley’s baseball team is steaming through this spring’s schedule like a fiery swath. The Eagles are slated to be home this weekend at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium.
Should they continue in the same explosive fashion, OKWU could very well clinch its fourth NAIA World Series berth — which would be Kelley’s second.
A more detailed mid-season report on OKWU’s highlights is planned for next week.
Shown below is an article from May 2011 about Kelley’s Eagles winning the NCCAA title.
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Blast from the past
The hard work’s done.
Now it’s time for the glory.
The Oklahoma Wesleyan University baseball team has earned the right to bask in the sunlight of achievement this weekend after winning the program’s first-ever national championship.
Paced by Thomas Kellner’s pitching gem, the gritty Eagles outlasted North Greenville (S.C.) University, 4-1, to capture the crown at the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Conference World Series.
The tourney — which started last Wednesday with 10 teams — was played in Mason, Ohio.
OKWU (39-28) took the two-out-of-three championship series in dramatic fashion from the defending national champion Crusaders.
The Eagles rode the strong arm of senior Nick Randolph to a 4-2 victory Friday night in the opening game of the title series.
The Crusaders crashed back with an 11-4 win Saturday, in the second game, forcing the “if” game.
Reeling from one of their most-lopsided losses of the season — and their first defeat in two weeks — OWU needed to draw on the well of character about which second-year head coach Kirk Kelley has preached all season.
“We knew the scoreboard read 0-0 when the last game started,” said Kelley. “I was proud of the way our guys bounced back.”
No one could top Kellner’s bounce-back act.
He threw a complete-game victory late Wednesday afternoon and came back on just two days rest to beat the mighty Crusaders.
“He was fantastic,” Kelley summarized.
Meanwhile, Dusty Phelps and Cory Ford provided the lion’s share of offensive pop for OKWU in the win.
Both delivered RBI doubles to pace the Eagles’ batting attack.
After the victory, while the team was still feeling the glow of supremacy, senior Johnny Porter delivered the most powerful message of what this title meant to the team — particularly the seniors who’ve stuck it out the last three and four years.
“We’re praying after the game and Johnny Porter starts by being thankful and then he busted out crying,” said Kelley. “That’s what the school program has meant for him.”
Kelley credited the seniors who stuck with the team following a head coaching change two years ago as the key factor.
OKWU 4, Crusaders 2 — Kelley called on Randolph to get the job done in his final college appearance.
Seven innings — and just three hits and three strikeouts later — Randolph proved he could meet the test, along with his freshman catcher Kraig Kelley.
Nothing North Greenville’s offense tried could dislodge Randolph from the bump.
OKWU’s offense, meanwhile, did just enough to get the job done.
Ford led the way with two hits, while J.D. Nalder drove in two runs.
Nick Palese and Kraig Kelley also each plated a run.
OKWU soared to a 4-0 lead before the Crusaders could even touch Randolph for a run.
In the bottom of the second, Phelps led off for OKWU, reaching base on an error.
A few minutes later, Shane Elliott ripped a one-out single to left. Soon after, pinch runner Ian Moreno replaced Phelps at third base.
With two outs, and the bases loaded, Nalder unloaded with a two run single to power the Eagles to a 2-0 lead.
OKWU scored one run each in the third and fourth innings.
In the bottom of the third, Palese singled home Jake Palese, who had been hit with a pitch and had advanced on a fielder’s choice by Jake Plancich.
An inning later, Kelley led off with a solo homer over the left field fence to stretch OKWU’s advantage to 4-0.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk column
