The Bo Bowman Baseball Tournament is a long-standing tradition in southwest Oklahoma during late March. Teams from around the Lawton area and the surrounding areas have competed for the coveted title over the past 50 iterations. For the 2026 chapter of the annual classic, eight teams dispersed around Lawton for a 3-day, round-robin style format. However, the Oklahoma weather was not as kind this season and shortened the tournament for a few of the teams. Despite dealing with a rainy, windy Friday, there was still a lot of great baseball played during the event.
The MacArthur High School Highlanders have been a mainstay at the top of the Bo Bowman bracket throughout the past few years, and this season, they dominated their pair of games, which they were able to play, with the third being canceled due to weather. MHS started the action on Thursday by hosting Anadarko. Senior Colton Loehr and sophomore Brody Meier led the way on the bump for the Highlanders, racking up the strikeouts. Meier even helped himself out at the plate with a big home run, while seniors Dirk Couch and Josiah Alford also had big games for the MAC offense. Later in the day, the Highlanders made quick work of Burkburnett, winning 17-1. Loehr and junior Lou Phillips, who hit a towering homer, aided a third-inning run parade that saw MHS put up 11 runs in the frame. The two wins would have set up an intriguing matchup with Cache in the Highlanders’ third game of the festival, but the Oklahoma winds had other ideas as the game was canceled.
The host team, and the school whose former coach, Orville “Bo” Bowman, the tournament is named after, Lawton High School, had a big start to their tournament, beating Big Pasture 15-3. The Wolverines utilized their speed and miscues from their opponent to put the first two runs of the game on the board in the first inning. They then got an RBI single from junior Davien Huiett to add another score in the frame. Five more LHS runs crossed the plate in the inning, all with two outs, to give them a comfortable lead. Senior Qynn Plata started the game on the mound for LHS and worked out of trouble with just one run scored in the opening frame after collecting a 2-RBI triple in the previous frame. The Rangers added two more runs on a 2-run homer in the next inning, but that is all they would get on the LHS pitching staff. The Wolverines benefited from wild pitching and miscues from the Big Pasture defense as they added seven more runs in the next frame. Senior Bryce McDonald came in to finish off the game on the mound to secure the LHS victory.
The Wolverines’ Friday game against Anadarko was canceled due to weather, which led to them finishing out the festival on Saturday against Altus. The Wolverines' speed and patience led to the first runs of the game in the bottom of the first. Plata, who started the game on the mound again, walked to start the rally and then came in to score a few batters later on a passed ball. LHS plated two more runs before the third out to take a 3-0 lead. After giving up a pair in the top of the second, Plata made up for it with his bat by hitting a 2-run homer to left to give the Wolverines a 5-2 advantage. Altus then rattled off 11 straight before LHS stole their sixth run of the game. That would be all the home team would get as they lost to the Bulldogs 15-6.
The Eisenhower High School Eagles were the only squad to get to play all three of their Bo Bowman games. Unfortunately for the IKE faithful, they were unable to get a win in their three contests, falling 12-2 to Altus on Thursday, battling Cache in blustery weather on Friday to a 7-3 loss, and dropping their game to Burkburnett on Saturday, 12-3.
With the shortened schedule this year, both teams and fans alike will hope that the 2027 Bo Bowman has more favorable weather.