5A State has some familiar faces in the field

The bracket has been set and the last eight teams in Class 5A will battle over the next four days to determine a state champion.

There will be some familiar faces come Wednesday (first day of state).

Bishop Kelley, Guthrie’s first game opponent, has made a reservation for state for the last nine seasons and have claimed two titles in 2006 and 2004. The Comets dropped the 2005 title game to Claremore.

Kelley will enter the 2011 state tournament ranked No. 2 with a 24-7 record.

The Deer Creek Antlers, who will be looking for their first ever state baseball championship, are making their fifth straight state tournament appearance and enter this years tournament as the No. 1 seed and favorite to win. They enter with a 30-5 record and have lost to just one Oklahoma team this season (Edmond Santa Fe).

The Chickasha Fightin Chicks are also attending their fifth straight state tournament. Last season the Chicks streak of three state final appearances was snapped and the last state title for them was in 2002.

Chickasha will enter as the fifth ranked team in 5A with a 26-8 record.

Joining Deer Creek and Chickasha for the fifth straight season are the Carl Albert Titans. The Titans have won two titles (2007 and 2009) with both of those coming against Chickasha in the finals.

The Bluejays are going back to the tournament for the first time since 2005.

The Titans reached the 30 win plateau again this season and are currently 30-8 and ranked fourth.

Despite not making state a season ago, the Shawnee Wolves will be playing in their seventh state tournament in the last nine years and will be looking to reach the finals for the first time in those years. The Wolves have piled on a 20-14 record and are ranked seventh. The Wolves will be looking for their schools first state baseball title.

Ardmore is making their first appearance since 2002, while Pryor last made the big dance in 2004. Pryor, the third team in the field looking for their first baseball state title, achieved a 24-7 record and currently ranked third, but it is the Ardmore Tigers as the biggest surprise in the field.

The Tigers are the only 5A team to advance that did not host a regional. In fact, they were the four seed entering the four team regional, but got by the host team in Durant. Ardmore was not ranked in the top 20 in the final poll. The Tigers last won state in 1986.

Meanwhile, the Guthrie BlueJays return for the first time since going back-to-back in 2004 and 2005. In the ’04 campaign the Jays dropped their first two games to McAlester (23-8) and Duncan (6-4).

The Jays made a deeper run in the 2004 season after losing in the first game to Bishop Kelley 3-2. Guthrie responded with two wins (Pryor 17-16, McGuinness 13-10) to reach the state semi-finals before losing to the eventual state champ Kelley (8-4) for the second time in three days.

The BlueJays have one state title back in 1989.

Guthrie Sports Page will have reports throughout all the games with details to come soon.