Preston’s 2003 state baseball runner-up season revisited

The 2023 spring baseball season concluded last weekend with Classes 6A-2A crowning state champions.

Twenty years ago, the Preston Pirate varsity spring baseball team found themselves in the championship game of the Class 2A state baseball tournament at Dolese Park in Oklahoma City.

The 2003 state tournament appearance was the 18th for the Pirates (fall and spring) and fifthstraight under head coach Mike Case (Preston appeared in the fall state tournament in 2001 and 2002 and in the spring baseball tournament in 2001, 2002, and 2003 under Coach Case).

The 2003 Preston spring baseball team was led by six seniors, including All-State selection Brett Case. The other senior members of the first-ever state runner-up team in school history were Joe Meyer, Tyson Fuqua, Jason Hurst, T.J. Hamilton, and Stephen Dangott.

The other members of the 2003 state runner-up team were Dustin Mulliniks, Branden Driver, Chris Treat, Chris Rainbolt, Charles Wade, Clark Story, Will Lewis, Brandon Nystrom, and Ryan Folsom.

During the 2003 campaign, the Pirates finished with a 25-7 regular-season record and were ranked second in Class 2A behind the Latta Panthers.

Two of Preston’s losses in 2003 came against Okmulgee County rival Henryetta, who was ranked No. 1 in Class 3A and captured the Class 3A state championship that season, defeating Marietta by a 2-0 margin.

In the postseason, the Pirates outscored their opponents 69-22 and outhit their opponents 66-35 in eight games.

With its No. 2 ranking in Class 2A, the Preston squad was awarded home games in its first two postseason series, beginning with hosting the Hominy Bucks in the Class 2A district tournament.

The Pirates made quick work of their district tournament foes, defeating Hominy by margins of 10-0 and 13-1, respectively, to sweep the Best-of-3 series and advance to the Class 2A regional tournament.

Besides the host Preston Pirates, the 4-team, double- elimination, regional tournament at Preston also featured the Gore Pirates, Depew Hornets, and Woodland Cougars. At the regional tournament, the Preston squad opened with a hard-fought 6-5 win over Gore, while Depew handed Woodland an opening-round defeat to join the host Pirates in the winner’s bracket semifinals, where Preston dispatched the Hornets by a 15-1 margin to move one step closer to their third-straight spring baseball state tournament berth.

After Gore eliminated Woodland in the loser’s bracket semifinals, they sent Depew home for the season by knocking off the Hornets in the loser’s bracket finals, setting up a first-round rematch for the regional championship.

The host Pirates jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and resulted in a dominating 12-2 victory over Gore to take home the Class 2A regional championship and punch their ticket to the 2003 Class 2A state baseball championships.

At the state tournament, the Pirates were matched up with sixth-ranked Coalgate in the quarterfinals, where Preston emerged from the first-round battle with an 8-6 advantage, sending the Pirates to the semifinals for the third-straight season.

In the semifinals, the Preston squad went up against ninth-ranked Colbert, who upset defending state champion Dale 6-5 in the opening-round. The Pirates found the Leopards to be a formidable opponent and held on to defeat their semifinal foes by a 3-1 margin to advance to their first state championship game in school history.

Preston’s final obstacle in a possible first-ever state championship in baseball was the top-ranked Latta Panthers, who advanced with wins over Stroud (120) and Vian (16-3), respectively, in their two state tournament contests.

In the 2A title game, both teams went with their top starting pitchers with Preston putting the ball into Brett Case’s hands, while Latta countered with Brad Miller.

The championship game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when Latta broke the 0-0 tie with a run in the frame. The Panthers added four runs in their half of the sixth, then kept the high-powered Preston offense off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh to hand the Pirates the 5-0 setback and deny the Preston squad its first-ever state baseball championship.

Case accounted for both of the Pirates’ hits in the championship game with a single in the first and a triple in the third.

Case struck out eight and walked four, while allowing five runs on five hits in six innings of work, while Miller struck out 11 and walked five, while tossing a 2-hit complete-game shutout.

Besides Case’s two base hits, the other Preston baserunners against Latta were Tyson Fuqua with a walk, Stephen Dangott and Jason Hurst with two walks each, and Dustin Mulliniks and Charles Wade with fielder’s choices.

Mulliniks flashed some leather defensively in left field for the Pirates in the title game, making a diving catch to rob a hitter of extra bases in the fourth and running into foul territory to make a catch in the fifth that kept a runner from advancing.

Since the 2003 state runner-up finish, the Preston baseball program has appeared at the state tournament five times, including earning a spot this past season. In the last five appearances, the Pirates have saw their dreams of a first-ever state championship disappear in the first round, losing to Byng in the Fall of 2005 (11-1), Sterling in the Spring of 2011 (13-5), Roff in the Spring of 2014 (20-0), Christian Heritage in the Spring of 2016 (5-1), and Dale this past Spring (11-0).

— 2003 Preston Pirate Spring Baseball Record: 32-8 (No. 2 in Class 2A) Head Coach: Mike Case Assistant Coach: Kyle House Team Members Joe Meyer Brett Case Tyson Fuqua Jason Hurst T.J. Hamilton Stephen Dangott Aaron Qualls Dustin Mulliniks Branden Driver Chris Treat Chris Rainbolt Charles Wade Clark Story Will Lewis Brandon Nystrom Ryan Folsom — 2023 Postseason Results Class 2A District Tournament At Preston Preston 10, Hominy 0 Preston 13, Hominy 1 — Class 2A Regional Tournament At Preston

Preston 6, Gore 5 Preston 15, Depew 2 Preston 12, Gore 2 — Class 2A State Tournament At Dolese Park (Oklahoma City) Preston 8, Coalgate 6 Preston 3, Colbert 1 Latta 5, Preston 0