Both Brenden Campbell and Kolten Payne are now officially FORMER Oran High School baseball players, but after both recently competed for their summer team, the Southeast Tropics, they spoke on the impact that playing for veteran Eagle coach Joe Bickings continues to have on them.
“Coach Bickings taught me that no matter what the score is,” Payne said, “or who we are playing, or what the team is, you always have to play your style of baseball.”
Payne exhibited that lesson on the mound on Thursday after the Tropics took a 6-0 lead on the Aycorp Charleston Fighting Squirrels in the first inning, before eventually winning 10-0.
“It doesn’t matter if you are playing the worst team in baseball (Payne was NOT referencing the Squirrels with this statement),” Payne continued, “you always have to prove to everyone that they are the worst team in baseball.
“Don’t take anything for granted.”
Payne, who spent this past year at St. Charles Community College, said “the Squirrels have been a good program for a long time. They can put up eight to 10 runs in an inning.”
Bickings took over the Eagle baseball program in a trying situation in 2014.
Oran had come off three consecutive trips to the MSHSAA State finals, culminating in the 2014 Class 1 state championship won under coach Mitchell Wood.
Oran didn’t get back to the State Finals in Bickings’ initial four seasons, in fact, it only won one District title during those early years. But when Bickings got the Eagles rolling, they didn’t stop.
The Eagles won the Class 1 State Championship last month in dominating fashion, which was the program’s third in the past six seasons, and that doesn’t include a runner-up finish in 2022 under Bickings.
“It’s a dream come true,” Bickings told Semoball.com following his latest state title win. “All I ever wanted to do was come back to Oran, be a coach, and try to bring home state championships.
“It’s a blessing I’ll never take for granted.”
Campbell, who will play at Central Methodist University this fall, was one of seven seniors on the 2024 Eagle team, which closed their careers having won 81 games, four district titles, three final four appearances, and two state championships.
“Coach (Bickings) always taught me to go out and be a baseball player,” Campbell said. “He has always preached defense, pitching, and timely hitting. When you do those three things well, you are usually going to win.”
MSHSAA doesn’t list seasons past 2008, but through that time, no Oran baseball squad has endured a losing record. Campbell said the off-season work is critical to any success achieved by Oran in the springs.
“We bring a lot of kids through the program who play travel ball in the summers,” Campbell said. “We go out every day in practice and work hard and get pushed to be better every single day.”
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