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Home sweet home.
For Travis Owen, the chance to return to his high school roots trumped eight years of joy at the helm of the McLoud baseball program.
Owen, architect of a 173-130, eight-year record at McLoud, has accepted the head coaching post at his hometown of Tuttle.
“I told McLoud Athletic Director Gary Hodde that I wasn’t leaving McLoud because of baseball,” Owen said. “McLoud has been very good to me and we’ve really enjoyed it. This is a good administration and I’ve made a lot of friends in this area.
“But my parents and my wife’s parents still live in Tuttle.”
Prior to accepting the McLoud post, Owen was an assistant coach/pitching coach at Southern Nazarene University for five years. Before his SNU stint, he was the head coach at U.S. Grant for six years.
Owen guided U.S. Grant to three state tournaments and took McLoud to the 2007 state tournament. His 2009 Redskin crew, which was ranked No. 1 for much of the spring, finished with a 34-8 record but was upended at regionals.
Owen experienced just two losing seasons at McLoud — a 16-20 mark in 2005 and a 7-25 record last spring. Owen started seven freshmen on the 2011 edition.
“We always played a tough schedule,” Owen said. “We played teams like Weatherford, Dale, Tuttle and Tecumseh.”
In eight years at McLoud, Owen has watched 18 of his players go on to play college baseball. Six of those McLoud products — Cody Farrell, Wayland Moore, Lane Hanes, Dillion Endecott, Garrett Carter and Tyler Haderer — are still playing collegiately.
“We have a beautiful field here at McLoud,” Owen said. “The next coach will have a nice place to come to work every day.”
Owen was also an assistant coach at Edmond Memorial and Edmond Santa Fe before launching his head coaching career.
A 1989 Tuttle graduate, Owen said the coaching switch was a hard decision.
“There’s a lot of things I will miss about McLoud,” Owen said. “It was one of those decisions that would have been good if I stayed or good if I went. My four kids have only known McLoud. This will be a new experience for them.
“Sometimes, it is just the right time to go.”
Home sweet home.
For Travis Owen, the chance to return to his high school roots trumped eight years of joy at the helm of the McLoud baseball program.
Owen, architect of a 173-130, eight-year record at McLoud, has accepted the head coaching post at his hometown of Tuttle.
“I told McLoud Athletic Director Gary Hodde that I wasn’t leaving McLoud because of baseball,” Owen said. “McLoud has been very good to me and we’ve really enjoyed it. This is a good administration and I’ve made a lot of friends in this area.
“But my parents and my wife’s parents still live in Tuttle.”
Prior to accepting the McLoud post, Owen was an assistant coach/pitching coach at Southern Nazarene University for five years. Before his SNU stint, he was the head coach at U.S. Grant for six years.
Owen guided U.S. Grant to three state tournaments and took McLoud to the 2007 state tournament. His 2009 Redskin crew, which was ranked No. 1 for much of the spring, finished with a 34-8 record but was upended at regionals.
Owen experienced just two losing seasons at McLoud — a 16-20 mark in 2005 and a 7-25 record last spring. Owen started seven freshmen on the 2011 edition.
“We always played a tough schedule,” Owen said. “We played teams like Weatherford, Dale, Tuttle and Tecumseh.”
In eight years at McLoud, Owen has watched 18 of his players go on to play college baseball. Six of those McLoud products — Cody Farrell, Wayland Moore, Lane Hanes, Dillion Endecott, Garrett Carter and Tyler Haderer — are still playing collegiately.
“We have a beautiful field here at McLoud,” Owen said. “The next coach will have a nice place to come to work every day.”
Owen was also an assistant coach at Edmond Memorial and Edmond Santa Fe before launching his head coaching career.
A 1989 Tuttle graduate, Owen said the coaching switch was a hard decision.
“There’s a lot of things I will miss about McLoud,” Owen said. “It was one of those decisions that would have been good if I stayed or good if I went. My four kids have only known McLoud. This will be a new experience for them.
“Sometimes, it is just the right time to go.”
