Weese guides Oklahoma City Outlaws to American Legion World Series championship

Coach comes back after stepping down to lead fast team; Alabama Mr. Basketball catches TD in jamboree; Miami junior wins 400 at Youth Olympic Games.

By Dave Krider

Aug 25, 2010, 10:10am

At age 63, Doug Weese has one less goal in his life since guiding the Oklahoma City Outlaws (66-10) to their first American Legion World Series baseball championship.

"It was on my 'bucket list.' It was almost like an out-of-body experience on that last day," Weese told MaxPreps. "It was unbelievable. We had strived for that."

He had guided the Midwest City, Okla. team to third-place finishes in 1987 and 2001.

Oklahoma's Doug Weese.

Photo courtesy of Lianne Weese

The Outlaws came out of the losers' bracket to defeat previously unbeaten Eden Prairie (Minn.) 11-6 and 10-1 on the final day. Eden Prairie (39-9) had beaten the Outlaws 9-6 in the second round.

"We've got 11 or 12 kids who can run very well," Weese pointed out. "We're going to do it until somebody stops it and nobody did."

The Outlaws did, indeed, run wild on the base paths. They stole 14 bases — including home three times — in the final two games. Counting regional games, they were successful 45 times in 55 tries.

The Outlaws' outfielder-pitcher Dalton Bernardi (6-0, 170) earned MVP honors after batting .420, driving in 15 runs and stealing 12 bases in 12 attempts. Bernardi went 3-for-5, drove in three runs and struck out the side in the ninth inning in the final game.

Tecumseh (Okla.) senior Kevin Hill won the Bob Feller Award. The 6-0, 200-pounder struck out a record 15 batters in six innings earlier in the tournament.

The championship was especially remarkable because the Outlaws lost their best player, J.T. Realmuto, who signed with the Florida Marlins following the Mid-South Regional.

"The kids told me, 'Coach, we're going to win it anyways.' And they did," Weese said proudly.

Weese almost missed out on his big moment because he gave up coaching in 2007 and 2008 to watch his grandsons play.

"After two years, I couldn't stand it," he admitted. "My wife (Lianne) had tears in her eyes when I stepped down. It's tiresome but we both enjoy it."

* Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) baseball coach Jerry Dawson has retired following an outstanding 37-year career. He won eight Class 4A state titles and a state-record 773 games to go with 301 losses. He started the program and produced such future Major Leaguers as Paul Konerko (White Sox), Ike Davis (Mets) and Brian Bannister (Royals).

Football
* New Albany (Ind.) senior Chris Whitehead had a spectacular debut at quarterback, though his team suffered a tough 47-46 overtime loss to Providence (Clarksville, Ind.). A converted split end, the 5-9, 180-pounder ran 17 times for 377 yards and five touchdowns, ran for a pair of two-point conversions and passed for one touchdown.

Coach Kevin Roth said, "In 36 years, I'd never seen an exhibition like that. He also is an outstanding point guard in basketball."

* Despite the loss of All-American quarterback Christian LeMay, Butler (Matthews, N.C.) opened its season with a 27-14 victory over Mount Tabor (Winston-Salem, N.C.). LeMay, who is sitting out his senior year following a suspension, was replaced by sophomore Riley Ferguson (6-2, 175), who completed 11 of 21 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown with an interception. The defending Class 4A champions have now won 16 straight games.

* Butler (Huntsville, Ala.) had just five players show up for the fifth day of football practice. A huge recruiting surge brought the total to 40 – including reigning Mr. Basketball Trevor Lacey, who caught an 11-yard touchdown pass during last week's jamboree.

* Though just a Class 2A school, Wheeler (Valparaiso, Ind.) has an ultra-talented quarterback, Sam O'Shea. The 6-1, 175-pound senior passed for 404 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 115 yards and one touchdown during a 32-29 victory over Highland (Highland, Ind.). Coach Dan Klimczak said O’Shea "is blazing fast, has got a cannon and is tremendously accurate."

* Central (Louisville, Ky.) junior Anthony Wales (5-9, 170) ran 19 times for 339 yards and four touchdowns during a 47-32 loss to Seneca (Louisville, Ky.).

* Midland (Wyoming, Iowa) snapped a 20-game losing streak with a 22-12 victory over Springville (Iowa).

* In less than three quarters, senior Devrin Young (5-8, 165) scored six touchdowns and totaled 279 yards as Bearden (Knoxville, Tenn.) routed Walker Valley (Cleveland, Tenn.) 72-27.

* Brandon (Miss.) ended a six-game losing streak to Clinton (Miss.), but it took three overtimes to post the 6-3 triumph. Junior Matthew Spencer (5-10, 175) was the hero, kicking 27-yard field goals in the second and third overtimes.

* Nova (Davie, Fla.) has four sets of twins in its football program: seniors Jamal and Jamel Major, juniors Raymon and Jayson Washington, freshmen Michael and Martel Martinez and freshmen Austin and Andrew Wilson.

* Eighty-year-old Bob Lord, an assistant at Lassiter (Marietta, Ga.), is starting his 50th year as a football coach. That includes high school, college and stints with three NFL teams.

Boys basketball
* Muncie Central (Ind.) standout guard Jeremiah Davis is transferring to Huntington Prep (W. Va.), according to the Muncie Press. The 6-3 Davis averaged 16.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.1 steals as a junior.

Mesa High's Jahii Carson.

File photo by Todd Shurtleff

* Mesa (Ariz.) point guard Jahii Carson (5-11) has made a commitment to Arizona State University, according to the Arizona Republic. He averaged 23.5 points and 7.2 assists as a junior.

* Indiana University has received a commitment from 6-3 junior guard Ron Patterson, according to the Indianapolis Star. Patterson averaged a team-high 15.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last year at Broad Ripple (Indianapolis). He also was among state leaders in steals (76) and blocked shots (62).

* It will be business as usual this year for the Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) boys basketball team at the Henderson International School. The school was going to accept only pre-school through eighth-grade students, but an agreement has been reached to also continue teaching high school courses.

* The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Life Center Academy (Burlington, N.J.) has landed two talented guards to go with 6-8 star La Quinton Ross. They are 6-1 senior John Johnson, a Pittsburgh recruit, who averaged 22.2 points and 4.4 assists last year for Girard College (Philadephia) and 6-3 junior Andre Horne, who starred for Hodgson Vo-Tech (Newark, Del.).

Girls basketball
Syracuse (Utah) junior guard Brittney Martin has made a commitment to the University of Utah, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The 6-0 star averaged 18.5 points last year while leading Syracuse to the Class 5A state title. She also considered UCLA, Arizona State and Cal.

* Six-foot-five Alex Cohen of Nicolet (Glendale, Wis.) has made a commitment to Northwestern University, according to the Leader-Telegram.

* Keep an eye on 6-2 freshman Jaime Nared this year. She elected to attend Westview (Portland, Ore.) even though her father, Greg Nared, has accepted a job as assistant women's coach at the University of Washington.

Track and Field
Jackson (Miami) junior Robin Reynolds won the 400-meter dash championship in a USA season-best 52.57 seconds during the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Reynolds actually attends Turner Tech in Miami for academics, but competes with Jackson because Turner Tech does not offer sports. Tomball (Texas) star Devin Bogert won the silver medal with a personal-record javelin toss of 252-02.

* St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) has a superstar distance runner in the making, according to Jim Lambert of the Newark Star-Ledger. His name is Edward Cheserek, a 16-year-old sophomore who has spent most of his life in a Kenya orphanage.

Tennis
* Blue Valley North (Overland Park, Kan.) senior Jack Sock defeated University of Florida sophomore Bob Van Overbeek, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4, to win the prestigious boys 18s singles title during the 68th annual USTA National Tennis Tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich. Sock, who is undefeated in three years of high school tennis, earned a berth into the main draw of the 2010 U.S. Open. He ousted top-seeded Jordan Cox in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-4.

The boys 16s title went to 6-7 Michael Redlicki (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.), who defeated top-seeded Shane Vinsant in the finals, 7-5, 6-4.

Potpourri
* Before she heads to the University of Florida, recent North Kingstown (R.I.) graduate Elizabeth Beisel left her mark on the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine, Calif. She won the 400-meter individual medley in 4:34.69 (after setting a record of 4:34.04 in the preliminaries) and also captured the 200-meter
backstroke in 2:07.83.

* George Cunningham of Litchfield Park, Ariz., shot 17-under-par 199 to win the AJGA Junior at Centennial. His total was the fifth-lowest 54-hole score in AJGA history and his final round of 8-under-64 set a record at the Centennial Golf Club in Medford, Ore. It marked the first AJGA win for the 15-year-old standout