Pack mentality
Three lifelong friends have powered Shawnee
Long after the stands had cleared and most of their teammates had gone, Tanner Sparks, Jake Taylor and A.J. Barron stayed in the outfield grass taking pictures.
They posed with family. With coaches. With each other.
Even though they’re teenage boys — seniors at Shawnee High School, to be exact — they didn’t seem to mind the sentimentality of the moment. It was their last baseball game together on their home field, and while they have more to play after winning regionals and qualifying for next week’s state tournament, they know the end is coming.
“It’s kind of sad to think this year is our last year all together,” Barron said. “We’ll go our separate ways.”
Hard to fathom after playing a thousand games together.
That number is not hyperbole, not for three guys who’ve played every game together since they first picked up a bat and glove.
Over the coming days as we hit the accelerator on high school state championships in all spring sports, there will be tons of great performances. But no accomplishment would top what Shawnee baseball is attempting to do. A third consecutive title. An undefeated season. The No. 1 ranking in the season-ending national high school baseball polls.
But if you’re looking for a flame-throwing lefty or a power-hitting behemoth powering this Shawnee steamroller, you won’t find it. Yes, these guys are supremely talented. At least five will play ball in college,
headlined by Oklahoma State signees Sparks and Taylor. But there is no superstar.
Near as anyone could tell, no scouts were there when Shawnee ran its record to 37-0 and punched its ticket to state.
What has catapulted the Wolves is camaraderie — a pack mentality — and nowhere is it more evident than the South Rock Creek Three.
Tanner Sparks, Jake Taylor and A.J. Barron grew up in the independent, rural school district just southeast of Shawnee. Their dads grew up in South Rock Creek, too, and after going to high school together in Tecumseh, they eventually settled there to raise their own kids. The three families spent so much time together that Tanner, Jake and A.J. don’t even have conscious memories of when they met. They were around each other from birth.
Even though the boys played every sport they could, baseball was what they gravitated toward. They always wanted to hit. Or catch. Or play.
When they were 10, they started working with former OSU player Greg Walbergh at Fuel, a training facility in Edmond. Fundamentals were drilled. Swings were refined. Hours and hours and hours were spent.
The boys loved baseball even more.
They joined Walbergh’s traveling teams, which took them all over the region, then all across the country.
“Florida. Arizona,” A.J.’s dad, Carey, said.
“Kansas. Missouri,” his mom, Kacy, chimed in. “California.” “Louisiana.” On and on they went.
The time in the batting cages and on the road and between the lines bonded the boys together. Tanner, Jake and A.J. became like brothers. They pulled for each other. They confided in each other. They even fought with each other; a few fist fights had to be broken up over the years.
But the lessons learned from Walbergh as well as South Rock Creek coach Ryan Rosser made them a known commodity in baseball circles by the time they were in middle school. When it came time for the boys to figure out where they were going to high school — South Rock Creek only goes through eighth grade — it was a big deal. The three families actually sat down and made the decision together.
Shawnee was the beneficiary of their choice.
The South Rock Creek Threemade the varsity team as freshmen, but even though Shawnee fell short of a state title that season, Tanner, Jake and A.J. were already pouring the foundation for future success. They couldn’t go off campus for lunch that year, so every day after they grabbed something from the cafeteria, they would go to the field and hit.
Inside. Outside. Good weather. Bad weather. Didn’t matter. They got work in every day.
“We just wanted to be the best we could be for each other, for our teammates,” Tanner said.
Their sophomore season, Shawnee won state, then repeated the next season.
As special as those seasons were for Tanner, Jake and A.J., nothing has topped this one. It’s not just that the three best friends power the lineup, batting in the second, third and fourth spots. It’s not just that they anchor the defense, Jake at catcher, Tanner at shortstop and A.J. at second. It’s also that what they love about baseball has spread.
Before the season, Tanner, Jake and A.J. made a commitment to the weight room. They were the only ones in there at first, but then, a couple guys joined them. Then a couple more. By the end of the season, everyone on the team was lifting.
“The better the chemistry of the team,” Jake said, “the better the baseball.”
Their secret sauce is the brotherhood.
That is evident in Shawnee’s pregame stretching circle that sometimes evolves into a dance-off. Or in the pregame hug line. Or in the warm-up shirts that say “JUST SOME DUDES BEING BROS.”
Like so many things on this team, it all goes back to Tanner, Jake and A.J.
“They’re the rock to this program,” Shawnee coach Todd Boyer said.
So it was fitting that those three remained on the field earlier this week after Shawnee wrapped up a regional title. They know there are still games to play and trophies to win. They know how special an undefeated three-peat would be.
“It’d mean everything,” Tanner said. “These dudes are my brothers both on the field and off the field. Our families have been so close for so long, just to go out like that would be a picture-perfect ending to all this.”
But along the way, they want to stop and enjoy the moment. So as Tanner, Jake and A.J. posed with their coach and cellphone cameras clicked away, one of the moms pointed at the boys.
“Are you crying?” she exclaimed. “If you start crying, I’m gonna start crying.”
The group dissolved into laughter, saving the tears for another day. But the parents know that day is coming. So do the boys.
How could you not be sad when you play your last game with your brother?