In his first season leading Kiowa, coach Bobby Weil looks to take the No. 13 Cowboys to new heights, beginning with a run in this year’s Pitt 8 Tournament.
Kiowa (4-2, 2-0 Pitt 8) finished third in last year’s tournament and most recently made the conference championship game in 2022. Weil, in his first season as a high school baseball coach, said this season has been a learning curve. His players have adjusted well and are getting hot at the right time, Weil said.
“I’m kind of a fill-in coach this year, so it’s kind of been a learning experience for me, but the boys have been good,” Weil said. “We just kind of flowed right into it and I think we’ve played pretty good.”
The Cowboys began their season with three consecutive wins, including a 9-1 victory over No. 10 Boswell on March 13. Despite losing two of their last three games, Weil said multiple players have stepped up and will be a big factor if Kiowa does go on a run.
“Cason Church has hit the ball well and is one of our better pitchers and you got Noah Foris, who’s batting about .350 and has played really well for us, as well,” Weil said. “We got another kid, Hoff Weil who, coming off an ACL surgery, has played really good and I think he’s batting about .500 for us.”
The Cowboys are 1-1 against ranked teams this season and Weil said he was excited by the opportunity for his team to be battle tested. However, he acknowledged his team will need to bring their best effort against everyone they face in this tournament.
“I think we can play with anybody,” Weil said. “We’re gonna face some pretty good teams at the bottom of this bracket, but my expectations are gonna be playing on championship Saturday if we can do it.”
Second-seeded Kiowa’s Pitt 8 Tournament run will begin with a matchup against seventh-seeded Canadian at 5 p.m. Thursday at Haileyville.
