Oklahoma CWS Notebook: OU Royalty, The '22ers Are Back, and All About the D

OMAHA, NE — Stepping out of the hotel on his way to Charles Schwab Field Saturday morning — and seeing not just familiar faces, but his OU peers — did something to Sooners baseball coach Skip Johnson.

As he and the squad, dressed in full uniform about two hours ahead of the start of what became a 9-0 first-round victory over Alabama in the College World Series, Johnson was genuinely surprised to see women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk, men’s basketball coach Porter Moser and program guy Bob Stoops, who all slapped him on the back and embraced him.

Even Barry Switzer, The King himself, was there to cheer on a Sooner victory.

“Well, it was huge,” Johnson said Sunday after practice at Bellevue East High School. “I mean, it was big. I mean, seeing Barry Switzer and Bob and Jenny there was huge — Porter. I mean, all those guys are — they pull for you.

“I’ve always said this when I came to work here 10 years ago. It's like a family-owned business, and that's the way Joe Castiglione made it, you know? And I really thanked him, and Joe — President Harroz — texted me last night and said, ‘Congratulations.’"

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Johnson had an immediate response.

“ ‘I thank you for the opportunity you gave me, and really thankful for that, grateful for those guys to be there.' ”

Johnson is always eager to receive a few pointers — and he got one from a Hall of Famer.

“Bob gave me some advice,” Johnson said. “He said, ‘Just stay out of their way’ — with another expletive in there — and I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ ”

Bob Stoops Barry Switzer Oklahoma Sooners — Former Oklahoma football coaches Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops watch OU's win over the Alabama Crimson Tide at Charles Schwab Field. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The Boys Are Back

The Sooners may not have the biggest crowds in Omaha, but they probably have the most impactful, profound and meaningful groups of guests cheering them on.

In addition to other head coaches and even OU royalty at the ballpark, Saturday’s game was also witnessed by several members of the Sooners’ 2022 squad that not only made it to Omaha, but just kept winning and made it to the Championship Series.

“I get emotional. I get really emotional about it,” Johnson said. “When I saw them last night, I had tears in my eyes. I got tears in my eyes right now thinking about what they did, and the accomplishment that they made — but they wanted to come back and watch us play, and it was really big.”

“It was awesome seeing those guys,” said center fielder Jason Walk. “They've been through it, and they were just — it's awesome seeing them.”

Walk, now a junior, was a freshman starting in the outfield on the Sooners’ 2024 team — a team that featured John Spikerman in the outfield playing his junior season. Spikerman was the starting right fielder as a freshman on that 2022 team.

“Like I said, they've been through the rings,” Walk said, “and they were just telling me, like, ‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.’ So it was awesome seeing them.”

“It's important that they left a mark on this program,” Johnson said, “and really, as a head coach, that's all I ever want to do is leave a mark on the program instead of a job vacancy.”

Peyton Graham Oklahoma Sooners — Oklahoma shortstop Peyton Graham legs out a double against the Texas A&M Aggies at Charles Schwab Field during the 2022 College World Series. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Don’t Forget the D

Johnson said with the emergence of three freshmen in the pitching rotation and so many home runs from Deiten LaChance and Dayton Tockey and so on, the level at which Oklahoma’s defense has been performing has “probably” flown under the radar.

“Nobody likes — it's not a sexy word, defense, you know?” Johnson said. “I think defense is where you win and lose games, especially in a ballpark like this, especially in the arena that you're in.”

LaChance’s big home run against Alabama coupled with Cord Rager’s surgically efficient pitching performance turned into a 9-0 win, but the Sooners turned spectacular plays at every base to quash any chance the Tide had of coming back or rattling Rager with any hopes of a rally.

Tockey’s snag of a hot shot at first started a 3-6-3 double play after Bama put their first two runners on base against Rager in the fifth inning.

In the fourth, Kyle Branch made a smooth, sliding catch of an infield tweener at second base to keep runners off base.

And Camden Johnson made two five-star defensive gems at third base — one for the second out of the third inning and one for the game’s final out in the ninth.

“The double play that Dayton made, and all the plays the defense made, are always helpful and always just take a little stress out of throwing,” Rager said after the game Saturday night.

“The big thing to really play defense, you got to get your outs on time,” Johnson said. “Because outs are so important. It's a momentum changer, and you have to get your outs on time.”

Jaxon Willits Kyle Branch Oklahoma Sooner — Oklahoma shortstop Jaxon Willits (7) tosses to second baseman Kyle Branch (6) to start a double play against the Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday at Charles Schwab Field. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

Add us as a preferred source on Google