Without a doubt, this is as remarkable a national championship story as you will ever read. It starts with Ted Owens – yes, THAT Ted Owens, who found fame as the Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s coach who took his basketball squad to numerous Big 8 championships and two appearances in the Final Four during his 19 years there – who accepted his first coaching job at Cameron State Agricultural College in 1956. The Aggies hired him to coach basketball … and baseball.
Although baseball was among the first sports at the Cameron State School of Agriculture when it was founded nearly 50 years earlier, it had been discontinued when the Great Depression paralyzed America. For more than 25 years, Cameron went without baseball. Seeing an opportunity to use baseball as a recruiting tool in the mid-1950s, Cameron administrators were eager to restart baseball – until they learned that the Pioneer Conference, which CSAC had joined, didn’t offer it as a competitive sport. Administrators’ zeal cooled considerably, and Coach Owens focused his efforts on basketball.
Although administrators lost interest in baseball, several of the junior college’s athletes did not, especially ones who chose Cameron under the impression the sport would be reinstated. Owens – who had played a little minor league baseball in Texas – felt a duty to those athletes, so he put together a team in the spring of 1958. This assemblage of football and basketball players, farm boys, boxers and veterans would meet on the college’s ROTC drill field near where Howell Hall now stands. No scholarships, no budget, no uniforms, no playing field and no bleachers … still, the group got in regular practice time. Their opponents were almost exclusively military units from nearby Fort Sill.
As it happened, the National Junior College Athletic Association picked that same spring to sponsor its first national baseball tournament, and it was to be played in Oklahoma. At the urging of his players, Coach Owens called the tournament director to see what it took to qualify. When asked Cameron’s record, Owens said that the Aggies had not lost to a college team all year – which was true, given the fact CSAC hadn’t played another college that spring. Two days later, the coach received instructions via telegram: If Cameron defeated Sayre Junior College in a 3-game series, it would host Bacone College. Win that series, and CSAC had an invitation to the national tournament.
The first order of business was to secure uniforms and a playing field. It so happened that Fort Sill had ordered new uniforms for its teams, so the Aggies were given the cast-offs. Even though “Aggies” was embroidered over the jerseys, it was still possible to read the military markings on the faded cloth. Owens was able to secure use of a baseball field at Memorial Park in Lawton, which once was home to an old semi-pro baseball team.
When Sayre came to town, the Aggies were inhospitable hosts, scoring early and often to put the first two games away in short order and advance to its series against Bacone. Cameron repeated the feat against Bacone – although not without surviving a nail-biter in the opening game. After CSAC jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the third inning, Bacone battled back to tie the game at 6-all midway through the sixth. The Aggies plated two runs to win, 8-6, then scored six more in the second game to secure its spot in the national tournament, which was to be played in Miami.
If you’ve ever seen the film, “Hoosiers,” you’ll likely recall the scene where the entire town joins the high school team in its long drive to the state tournament. It wasn’t like that for the Aggies. The team piled into two station wagons and left for nationals alone. Virtually everyone involved – other than the team – expected the Aggies’ drive to northeastern Oklahoma to last longer than its stay at the tournament, especially since CSAC was the No. 8 seed in the single-elimination event.
As the bottom seed, Cameron drew the unenviable task of facing the top-rated team, Phoenix, in the first round. Phoenix was so certain it would beat CSAC that the coach opted to save his best pitcher for the next game. Early on, it looked like a brilliant move. Phoenix scored first, but the Aggies plated two runs of their own in the third. Cameron held the lead until the eighth inning when Phoenix rallied for a run. Tied at 2-all going into the top of the ninth, Phoenix’s pitcher walked in the go-ahead run for Cameron, which then tacked on an insurance run and held on for the win.
For the semi-final, Cameron drew Navarro College later that day. The Aggies’ pitching staff was thin, but it came through that afternoon, holding Navarro to three runs, while Cameron hitters drove in five.
For the title game, CSAC drew arch rival Northeastern A&M, its arch enemy and No. 2 seed. As it did in nearly every game that spring, the Aggies scored early, plating five runs. But Northeastern rallied for four runs of its own and Cameron held a narrow lead going into the seventh inning. While playing solid baseball had become an Aggie trademark, it was far from elaborate. In fact, Owens’ strategy utilized only two signs: the bunt and the steal. It didn’t take long for the Norsemen to start stealing signs, so Owens decided to switch them mid-game in an effort to confuse his opponent. The only flaw in this strategy was that when it came time to actually send a signal, Owens momentarily forgot about the switch. With two men on and a full-count on the batter, Coach thought he gave the steal signal. When the batter bunted, it caught everyone by surprise – including Owens. The startled third baseman muffed his throw and two Aggies scored. Cameron went on to win the game 9-6.
The national championship trophy won that day is painfully small by today’s standards. Still, it sits proudly in the trophy case of Aggie Gym, a testament to the dedication of a small group of athletes who defied the odds, putting together an undefeated season in hand-me-down uniforms and coached by a future hall of famer.
You are looking for a magnetic micro at McCord Field, the home field of today’s Aggies. This cache is hidden to mark the date of Cameron’s first home night game in decades, thanks to a generous grant from the McMahon Foundation of Lawton.
(This recounting of Cameron’s national title is condensed from Ted Owens’ autobiography, “At the Hang Up.”)