All-State baseball: Ryan Phillips' energy sparked Edmond Santa Fe to title

EDMOND — With each pitch, Edmond Santa Fe coach Ryan Phillips moved in the dugout.

He often started at one end and walked to the other. He stopped to talk to coaches. He paced. He never sat down. He never relaxed.

It didn’t matter the opponent, Phillips was full of energy.

“He’s always in a different spot,” Edmond Santa Fe senior Blake Robertson said. “I think it’s funny.”

Phillips’ energy he used to focus on the game brought belief to his players, especially late in the season. The Wolves got red hot late in the season to win the Class 6A state championship as they beat three of the East’s largest schools in three days.

Phillips, a former Red Sox minor leaguer, is The Oklahoman’s All-State Coach of the Year following his sixth season leading the program.

“I’ve had better teams as far as talent than this one,” Phillips said. “A lot of things have to go right for it to happen. You’ve seen a lot of good teams not get there or win it. The belief got further along as we got closer.”

Things got off to a rough start for the Wolves, who went 1-3 before heading to a spring break tournament in Arizona. There, they beat No. 1 IMG Academy and then Jenks in the championship game.

Belief started to rise among the players.

“He never doubted us,” Robertson said. “He gave us a lot of confidence even though we were losing early.”

But then Edmond Santa Fe lost a tiebreaker with Deer Creek in the district standings to finish third. It had to go on the road to rival Edmond North for the regional tournament.

It was a good matchup for the Wolves, though.

They beat Putnam North 9-4 and Edmond North 5-2 right away. They lost the first championship game, 4-3, to Edmond North but rebounded to win 7-6.

That wouldn’t be the first drama Edmond Santa Fe endured.

In the quarterfinals, Robertson outdueled Owasso star Nate Wohlgemuth. In the semifinals, football star Trace Ford hit a walk-off grand slam to oust Jenks. In the title game, Phillips rode the arms of injured pitchers Braden Reichert and Cooper Jenson to the title.

It was in that title game Phillips used the wide dugouts at ONEOK Field to his advantage. He had room to pace and pace before he could finally celebrate.

“It’s just unbelievable really,” Phillips said. “I tell the coaches all the time I want to not lose this feeling.”