• Mustang baseball coach Joe Patterson led his team to a Class 6A state championship victory.
• Patterson was named The Oklahoman’s 2026 All-State Coach of the Year after a 39-6 season.
• The championship win was Patterson’s first after five previous appearances as a player and coach.
• The team’s success followed a significant turnaround from a 19-16 record the previous season.

Joe Patterson was hoping it would be different this time. 

The Mustang baseball coach is no stranger to state championship games.

But as Mustang headed into its Class 6A title matchup against Edmond Santa Fe in May, a state championship victory remained a goal that hadn’t been fulfilled for Patterson as a player or head coach.  

“That was all together — playing and coaching — my (sixth) state championship game, and I was 0-5,” Patterson said.  

Patterson can now revise that record to 1-5 as the Broncos beat defending champion Edmond Santa Fe 5-4 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa. 

An unforgettable day for Patterson. 

An unforgettable season. 

After leading Mustang to its third title and a 39-6 record while playing a brutally difficult schedule, Patterson is The Oklahoman’s 2026 All-State Coach of the Year. 

More: The Oklahoman’s 2026 Big All-City high school baseball roster

“It was one of those years where it felt like I wasn’t working the whole year,” Patterson said. “Just a special group and everybody involved did such an amazing job and the players got along and the senior leadership was just unbelievable.”

A year after going 19-16 and falling at regionals, this season was vastly different for Patterson as Mustang dominated from beginning to end. 

The Broncos won 11 of their first 12 games and ended the season the exact same way, claiming victories in 11 of their last 12 matchups. 

They thrived in tight games, going 12-3 in matchups decided by two or fewer runs. 

“We lost a bunch of close games last year,” Patterson said. “We didn’t have as great a season as we wanted, so we talked about trying to change the team morale and change the culture just a little bit in the fall, and we really focused on that. Just trying to make the place a more positive place for the kids and emphasize them having a little bit more fun but still working.” 

Born and raised in Duncan, Patterson’s love of baseball and sports in general go back to those days. 

His dad, Bill, was Duncan’s head football coach from 1997-2003 before accepting an assistant position at Owasso and serving as the Rams’ head coach from 2007-2016. 

More: The Oklahoman’s 2026 Little All-City high school baseball roster

A standout in football and baseball in high school, Joe Patterson was at Duncan as a freshman and sophomore before spending his final two years at Owasso and then playing college baseball from 2007-2010. He went to Oral Roberts for one year, Seminole State for a season and Texas A&M for his final two. 

Patterson was named the national junior college player of the year at Seminole State and had a successful stint at Texas A&M, hitting .362 with 21 homers and 100 RBIs with the Aggies. 

Crews responded to a fireworks stand after it caught fire in Broken Arrow Saturday night.

Authorities urged people to avoid E. Kanosha Street near S. 236th E. Avenue as the road is closed and fireworks could spread in the area due to the fire.

Broken Arrow Fire Department released a statement confirming no injuries were sustained as a result of the explosions or fire.

Fire crews quickly controlled the fire in about 20 minutes according to Broken Arrow Fire Department.

The initial cause of the fire is under investigation.

Viewer Leslie Maxey, who lives close to the fireworks stand, sent in video of the ongoing fire.

“We were putting our daughter to bed with a book when we heard an explosion that was gradually getting louder and louder,” Maxey said.

This is a developing story.

What you need to know about Oklahoma ahead of the College World Series

North Carolina will face a dangerous Oklahoma team that is on a roll.

Oklahoma (41-22) has been just as dominant. The Sooners, making their 13th College World Series appearance and first since 2022, surged through the postseason as road warriors. They won the Atlanta Regional by upsetting No. 2 seed and ACC champion Georgia Tech in the final, then swept Big 12 champion and No. 15 seed Kansas by a combined score of 21-3 in the Lawrence Regional.

The Sooners, who are 3-0 in Omaha after beating No. 7 seed Alabama and knocking off No. 3 seed and SEC champion Georgia twice, are seeking their third national championship. Oklahoma won titles in 1951 and 1994 and finished as runner-up to Ole Miss in 2022.

Here are a few things to know about Oklahoma:

Best player: Catcher Deiten LaChance

LaChance is Oklahoma’s most powerful hitter. He is batting .333 with 12 doubles, two triples and team highs of 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.

Throughout the postseason, he is hitting .326 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. In Omaha, he is 5-for-14 (.357) with one home run and five RBIs.

Strengths

Like North Carolina, Oklahoma is a balanced team that is good at a little bit of everything and is built to frustrate opponents.

Oklahoma is a balanced hitting team like UNC, but the Sooners have hit a few more homers with 91, compared to the Tar Heels’ 82. That is largely due to the Sooners smashing 26 home runs in their 10 postseason games. In Omaha, OU has homered eight times, including five homers in its win over Georgia in its previous game.

The Sooners have stolen 129 bases this season. That is good for 24th nationally and second in the SEC.

Pitching-wise, OU is 18th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings and leads the SEC in shutouts.

Weaknesses

The most glaring weakness is the pitching staff, despite its ability to strike out opposing batters and record shutouts.

The Sooners have a 4.98 ERA as a staff. Only one pitcher with 10 or more appearances has an ERA under 3.60.

They also allow 4.51 walks per nine innings, which ranks 138th nationally.

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