The Norman Tigers' 2022 season came to end at Regionals on May 7 with a loss to the Yukon Millers.
While the finality of the end of the season hit hard, the Tigers can look back on the 2022 season with pride. Finishing with a record of 23-12-1, the Tigers more than doubled their win total (11) from 2021 and lost than half of their losses (27) in 2021. The 23 wins also mark the most for the program since 2019 (20) and the most since at least 2017 (although no one can recall more than 23 wins in at least a decade).
The Tigers also had a strong district season going 9-5 and finishing alone in 4th place. Norman split games against district winner Edmond Santa Fe and Mustang who finished tied for 2nd. Norman also split the Crosstown Clash series angainst rival, Norman North, with the home victory highlighted by a no hitter pitched by junior, Clayton Moore.
Norman played in 3 tournaments/festivals during the season finishing with winning records in all 3. The first came early in the season with a trip to San Marcos, TX to play in the San Marcos Tournament. Norman went 2-1-1 in their 4 games while avenging the lone loss in a come from behind victory over host San Marcos HS their last game of the festival. The Tigers finished 3rd in the Southern Oklahoma Invitational going 3-1 with it's lone loss coming to host Duncan on a walk off grand slam in the 6th inning (Norman did not get a chance to bat in the 7th inning to due the time limit). Finally, the Tigers went 2-1 in the always tough COAC Tournament including a 13-6 victory over state qualifier Edmond Memorial and a 10-5 win over the same Yukon team that beat them in the Regional.
Overall the Tigers went 13-10 against 6A teams on the year, 5-1 against 5A teams, and 3-0 against 4A/3A teams including 10-2 and 8-2 wins over Salina and OCS respectively - both state qualifiers.
Norman saw some great individual performances on the field as well.
Clayton Moore led the Tigers on the mound this season as he was the Monday district starter. The highlight of the season came in the first Crosstown Clash game as Clayton Moore threw a complete game no hitter agains the T-Wolves. He was the workhorse of the Tigers staff leading the team in innings pitched (51.2), wins (5) and strikeouts (60). Perhaps nothing showed Moore's quaility pitching more than his last 2 starts of the season. Against the district champion, Edmond Santa Fe, and Norman North, Moore thew 2 complete 7 inning games victories allowing a combined 5 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 17 batters.
Connor Goodson and Liam McKinney also provided some strong outings on the mound. Goodson had a complete game win vs Mustang allowing 2 earned runs and 4 hits while striking out 7. Over McKinney's last 5 starts on the season, he pitched 27.2 innings allowing only 20 hits while striking out 26.
The Tigers had some impressive performances at the plate as well. Ben Huntley led the team in batting average (.412), slugging pct (.660), HRs (4), and RBIs (45). Harrison Smith led the team in OBP (.525), hits (45), and triples (4). Dax Noles led the team on the base paths scoring 46 runs and swiping 21 bags out of 22 attempts.
Statistical Leaders
Hitting
AVG (Min 50 AB) OBP (Min 50 PA) OPS
Ben Huntley .412 Harrison Smith .525 Ben Huntley 1.168
Harrison Smith .409 Ryan Huntley .519 Harrison Smith 1.116
Ryan Huntley .374 Ben Huntley .508 Connor Goodson 1.100
Dax Noles .363 Connor Goodson .500 Dax Noles 1.021
Hits RBIs Runs
Harrison Smith 45 Ben Huntley 45 Dax Noles 46
Dax Noles 41 Connor Goodson 38 Ryan Huntley 42
Ben Huntley 40 Dax Noles 30 Harrison Smith 33
Ryan Huntley 37 Ryan Huntley 28 Ben Huntley 32
Home Runs Triples Doubles
Ben Huntley 4 Harrison Smith 4 Dax Noles 12
Connor Goodson 3 Dax Noles 2 Harrison Smith 9
Dax Noles 2 Ben Huntley 2 Connor Goodson 9
Clayton Moore 2 Connor Goodson 2 Ryan Huntley 9
Jack Poarch 1 Ben Huntley 8
Harrison Smith 1
Walks HBP Stolen Bases
Ryan Huntley 26 Dax Noles 10 Dax Noles 21
Harrison Smith 18 Harrison Smith 10 Ryan Huntley 14
Connor Goodson 18 Ben Huntley 10 Harrison Smith 11
Ben Huntley 14 Connor Goodson 10 Rylan Schuchman 10
Ben Huntley 10
Pitching
Appearances Wins Saves
Hunter Hayes 17 Clayton Moore 5 Hunter Hayes 3
Tyler Wilkins 12 Connor Goodson 4 Clayton Moore 1
Liam McKinney 11 Liam McKinney 2 Ben Huntley 1
Clayton Moore 11 Hunter Hayes 3
Innings Pitched ERA (Min 10 IP) Strikeouts
Clayton Moore 51.2 Ben Huntley 1.20 Clayton Moore 60
Liam McKinney 40 Tyler Wilkins 1.65 Liam McKinney 40
Connor Goodson 34 Liam McKinney 3.15 Connor Goodson 34
Hunter Hayes 27.1 Clayton Moore 3.25 Hunter Hayes 27
