Coming off a return to the Class 5A state tournament a year ago, the Durant Lions baseball team welcomes back a senior-laden nucleus focused on another lengthy playoff push come May.
The Lions compiled just a 17-13 record but got hot at the right time, sweeping through the regional tournament at Collinsville while allowing just a single run in three contests.
Most of that pitching corps returns, including a pair of seniors in Cole Robbins and Holdan Robinson that were limited on the mound due to lingering injuries but seem to be healthy going into the 2026 campaign.
“We only lost a couple guys, and the nucleus is definitely back,” said new head coach Jimmie Wyrick. “We have a few juniors, a couple of sophomores and freshmen that we expect to contribute at some point in the season, but the core is all seniors with a lot of experience. We could have seniors in all nine spots on the field at various points this season.”
A year ago, Robbins was limited to just 29 mound innings and 5.31 earned run average but is expected to be back more to his 2024 form in which was a pitching workhorse for the squad as the team ace. Robinson is expected to add to his 20 innings and improve on a 3.78 ERA as well.
Lucas McClure, who tallied a 3.55 ERA in 19 2/3 innings, along with Jackson Williams, who fired 18 innings all in relief a season ago with a solid 2.33 ERA are expected to give the Lions a veteran four-man rotation at the top.
Adding to that group will be Keyvan Dollar, Blaine Clark, Ashton Cook, Graham McIlvoy and Coy McCulley. Dollar had the most time of that group with 13 2/3 innings over five appearances that included a pair of starts.
“We lost our main pitcher and it’s hard to replace high end guys, but we feel like we still have four high end guys with a lot of experience,” Wyrick said. “Cole and Holdan were battling injury issues last season but are healthy now. We’ve tested their arms here in the preseason and the turnaround time is not near what it was last year for their ability to bounce back quickly without any issues.
“We have four or five other guys that will pitch a lot as well that we believe are very capable. They have all prepared well and bought in. The key is limiting free passes. Walks were an issue last year, but they managed to control those in the playoffs, which is a key reason we made it to state. We gave up way too many free bases for the season though - walks, hit batters, errors. If we can limit those free bases I feel like we can compete against anyone.”
Offensively, recent Ranger Junior College signee Robbins will be the bell cow after leading the charge last season with a .410 average at the plate, tossing in five doubles, two triples, four home runs and a team-high 27 runs batted in for good measure.
Senior Jared Avalos is back as one of the outfield catalysts, coming off a solid .342 average last year. Eli McClure is a multi-year starter behind the plate at catcher and should add to a .333 batting average while his brother Lucas should be in the outfield when he is not pitching, fresh off a .318 batting campaign.
Look for bigger production from Robinson, who will be the regular shortstop, after he hit .316 with four doubles, four homers and 20 RBI as a junior. Second baseman Colton Poore returns after batting .246 in 2025 while Williams will be the club’s utility player with the ability to play any position depending on who is pitching.
Wyrick is also expecting big things from junior Jacob Jones, who will see time at first as well as DH after displaying great production down the stretch a season ago with 11 RBI in just nine games. Seniors Maddox Arnold, Stephen Manhard and Axel Thurman are others that could see a key role in the lineup on any given day. Junior Kayden Fenwick provides speed in the outfield after moving back from Missouri in the offseason.
“We have a lot of experience on the infield and some others that have potential, but just haven’t gotten a lot of varsity experience,” Wyrick added. “Jacob Jones was a guy last year that flourished once he got in the lineup late. We have some guys like that which we are going to plug in at times and see what they can do while trying to build our depth. We want to build a program that can sustain.
“Our lineup will be deep, but we are missing a true leadoff hitter to start with. I feel like we have a lot of guys that can put the bat on the ball and will be able to manufacture a lot of runs. We are much improved in the small ball game than a year ago. I love the bunt game and applying pressure to opposing defenses. It is very important that we are able to bunt and defend the bunt game. We have hammered that in practice. It’s the easiest thing to do if you work on it regularly in practice. We will be much more efficient in that area.”
In addition to a rugged district slate, the Lions will challenge themselves against a very difficult schedule that includes the likes of the Texas-Oklahoma Shootout, Broken Bow Spring Break Festival, Pryor Tournament, Noble Festival, Bixby/Broken Arrow Turf War and the McAlester 5A Shootout.
“I’m a firm believer that if don’t play high level competition it’s going to hurt you in the long run,” Wyrick said. “We could schedule a soft schedule and go 30-5 but could miss the postseason tournament cause we’re not ready. With a very challenging schedule throwing strikes and executing is how you win. Just got to go find a way to beat people whether they are 6A or Class B. If you are not able to execute, you are not going to have much success.
“Baseball is a game of consistency. The ones that are consistent are the ones that win year in and year out. We’ve got to find that consistency.”
