LAWTON – Businessman and baseball enthusiast Perry Warren has given players the chance to excel on the diamond and move to the next level for the past 15 years.
Warren, with a collection of coaches – all with college or Major League Baseball experience – collaborate each summer to bring together the best baseball talent in southwest Oklahoma. The Southwest Shockers, with seven teams ranging from under-10 to college, compete in several tournaments each year.
Warren began the developmental teams in 2006 with the goal of “improving every player” and giving them the chance to move on to college or the pros. Even more important, Warren says, is that every player become a “good citizen.”
However, Warren has turned over the duties of the seven teams to Kyle Fultz, who works as the director of baseball operations. Fultz, a former player with the Shockers, played in junior college and Southern Nazarene University in Bethany. After graduating from SNU, Fultz coached at Lawton High, SNU and is now an assistant coach at Cameron University.
“We’re trying to give every kid the opportunity to go to college and play,” he said. “The under-10 and U-11 teams are building the next couple of years, but the older teams we’re helping them think about their future in baseball.”
Four players from the Shocker system have moved to pro baseball, including shortstop Junior Martina who is playing with the Washington Nationals Double-A team after being drafted in 2016. Another former Shocker in the pros is left-handed pitcher Holden Capp, who throws for the Kansas City Royals Double-A team. Capp was drafted in the eighth round of the 2017 Draft. Prior to being drafted, Capp pitched at Redlands Junior College in El Reno, University of North Carolina-Charlotte and the University of Central Oklahoma.
The Shockers’ U-17 and U-18 teams typically play in at least seven tournaments a year and practice once a week for about two hours. The older teams also travel to Omaha, Neb., for another tournament, but that was cancelled this year because of COVID.
The U-17 and U-18 teams are playing in the South Plains Regional tournament this week in Enid with the winner traveling to Farmington, N.M., to compete in the Connie Mack World Series. The South Plains Regional includes teams from Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
“We made it to the regional final two years ago,” Fultz said. “We’re trying to get back to that level of ball.”
The Shockers will play three pool games and must finish first or second to advance to bracket play.
“We’ve had some good D-1 college players and a lot of junior college kids come up through the Shockers,” Fultz said. “Sometimes, it can be rough, but it can also be rewarding. As we coach these kids, we try to develop relationships with them. It’s fun, the trips are fun, and you get a new group of kids each year.”
Fultz and his coaching staff try to treat the older players like college athletes.
“We put four to a room, we have room checks and we eat breakfast as a team, just like they would in college. We teach them to take some responsibility for those times when they’re on the road,” he said.
Perry, the Shockers’ founder, established a foundation that allows donations to fund team expenses.
“The foundation does a great job of helping us,” Fultz said. “It takes $80,000 to $90,000 to run a summer league like this and that’s just for the older teams. It’s upwards of $150,000 when the younger teams are included.”
The head coach of the U-18 team is Ethan Appleby, a graduate assistant at Mid-American Christian University. Coaching the U-17 team is Tyler Garcia, who played for Cameron University.
Fultz and the coaches are open to some sage advice from baseball veterans such as Lloyd Simmons, a legendary coach from Seminole Junior College and a pro scout. Simmons serves as an advisor to pitchers. Glenn “Butch” Scheonhals, a former University of Oklahoma hurler, is a hitting coordinator who has volunteered his efforts for the past several years.
For more information, visit Shockers-Baseball on Facebook.