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Six Cowboys Return To Stillwater With Hopes For  Trip To Omaha

Six Oklahoma State baseball players have announced their return to Stillwater for the 2021 season
Marshall Levenson|
Six Cowboys Return To Stillwater With Hopes For  Trip To Omaha
Six Cowboys Return To Stillwater With Hopes For  Trip To Omaha

For years one of the most dominant sports on Oklahoma State’s campus has been found in Allie P. Stadium.

The Cowboy baseball program is one of the national powerhouses in terms of regularly being nationally ranked and always being a threat to make it to Omaha for the College World Series.

This past season, the Cowboys were considered to yet again be making a run for the trophy. As we all know however, the COVID-19 pandemic put those dreams to rest when the season was cancelled just days before conference play began.

The 2019 team had a healthy dose of veteran experience and youthful talent that Josh Holliday was able to mix and match with. That veteran experience was thought to be lost when the season abruptly ended.

Those seniors thought their college careers were over but unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. The NCAA announced shortly after the season that seniors in spring sports would receive an extra year of eligibility due to their final year being cut short.

Although they were allowed to return they still had the choice to end their college careers if they opted to move on to the professional ranks either via the MLB Draft or undrafted free agent deal. Due to COVID-19, the MLB Draft was shortened from the normal 40 rounds to only 5 this year.

Oklahoma State only had one player drafted, second baseman Kaden Polcovich, who was the 78th overall selection to the Seattle Mariners.

There was only one more departure from the Cowboy program to the minor leagues. Right handed pitcher Ben Leeper announced on Twitter today that he has signed a UDFA deal with the Chicago Cubs. Another modification to this year's process is that the UDFA deals can be worth $20,000 at maximum, which is what Leeper signed for. Leeper spent five years in the Cowboy program and became one of the top closers in the Big 12.

The good news for the Cowboys is that six seniors announced they will be returning to campus to compete in the 2021 season.

The six names included are Cade Cabbiness (RF), Parker Scott (LHP), Carson McCusker (LF), Alix Garcia (1B), Max Hewitt (C/2B), and C.J. Varela (RHP).

5 out 6 of these players were starters during the 2020 season with Varela coming out of the bullpen on a regular basis. Those roles should stay the same for 2021. This means that Coach Holliday will be returning all nine of his starters with these five leading the way.

All six players released short memos to announce their return and all noted that they are returning for a chance to bring a national championship trophy to Stillwater. Several of them also mentioned their excitement to play in the newly built O’Brate Stadium. The stadium's debut was scheduled to be against TCU for the start of conference play but the season was cut just days before.

There is a rough plan in place to make the new debut of the stadium during a 2020 fall scrimmage on a football weekend. Vanderbilt is the expected opponent for the Cowboys, which makes sense with Vanderbilt making the trip in previous years.

With these six seniors returning, the young talent gaining experience and 15 man signing class coming in, the Cowboys will not lack in talent at any position.

The 2021 season is lined up to be an exceptionally strong one for Oklahoma State and a trip to Omaha should be an expectation for all fans. 

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Marshall Levenson
MARSHALL LEVENSON

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