Tuttle Spring Break Shootout being held through Saturday, Tuttle plays at 7 pm each day

Breck Draper saddled up for his first year leading the charge for the Tuttle Tigers baseball program last year. After a solid 6-0 start, Draper and the Tigers had the rug pulled out of from under them at a time when they were set to do some real damage within the ranks of 4A Baseball.

“This last year was a difficult year,” Head Coach Breck Draper said. “We thought we had a really challenging group last year and had a chance to make a good run at it with three of our seniors that graduated. They were really good players for us.”

The Tuttle program was already a championship-level team that had won a state championship seven years ago, and knocked on the door many times since. It had to be deflating for a program that had been built up well by previous Head Baseball Coach Travis Owen.

The guys handled it well though, Coach Draper said. “They’re glad to be practicing again. It led to a quick start this year, and good things have happened to us.”

Tuttle has three starting seniors this season.

“Bode Brooks is an OU signee,” Coach Draper said. “I think he’s 3-0 on the mound right now, and I think he’s given up two hits in, I want to say, 17 innings of work. His last two appearances, he’s thrown 11 innings and struck out 26, and hasn’t given up a hit. He’s been really solid for us, and we kind of knew that he was going to be. He’s also been really good offensively for us.

“Emanuel Jeter is also a senior. He hits lead off for us, plays center field. He’s currently our #2 on the mound. He’s doing a good job throwing strikes and changing up speed.

“Nate Windle is our senior catcher who started a little bit last year before we got shut off. Nate is really athletic, really versatile. He’s either going to catch in college or play shortstop, maybe infield. He’s going to Northern Oklahoma college in Tonkawa.

“Those three guys kind of set the table for us. How they do is about how we do. We have a lot of younger guys kind of filling in. The juniors didn’t get to play much last year, and they only had their summertime to try and get better. They picked up the bat and hit the ground running pretty quick, swinging the bats well. Hopefully, we can keep that going.”

The Tigers have already made it further than last year, now 8-0.  Tuttle has so far quadrupled their opponents’ outputs, 88-22. In a  double header against Cache, T

uttle trounced them once 11-1 before playing a closer game 7-5.

The Tigers faced Bridge Creek Monday and Tuesday for a pair of wins. Tuttle began its Spring Break Shootout Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game hosting Bethany. The Shootout will feature nine teams besides the Tigers over the course of four days.

Tuttle‘s baseball field will feature baseball all-day all four days beginning at 10 a.m. with the final game each day beginning at 7 p.m. Tuttle will play each of the four days at 7 p.m.

The Tigers will face Oologah at 7 p.m. on Thursday, the OKC Broncos at 7 p.m. Friday, and Noble at 7 p.m. Saturday.

For a look at the full schedule, find Tuttle Tiger Athletics on Facebook. This is a fundraiser tournament so Faculty passes, Senior Citizen passes & Student passes will not be accepted.

There will be a $5 admission cost for school-aged kids and up. The only passes that will be accepted will be OSSAA & OCA passes.