Playing for the Red, White and Blue: With Brennan Phillips
By Ian Busking
Brennan Phillips is a senior at Owasso who has been playing baseball for as long as he can remember. He is a pitcher for the Rams and has been playing at a top tier level for a while now. Phillips has been committed to Oklahoma State University (OSU) since his verbal announcement in 2019 as a freshman to pitch for the Cowboys. The most recent accomplishment that Phillips has reached in his baseball career is making the 18 and under (18U) USA baseball team over the Summer.
The process for making the United States baseball team was extensive and included lots of practices, tryouts and games. There were many places that he had to travel to just to attempt making the team through different rounds of tryouts. It all started with Phillips playing for a pickup team in North Carolina where he pitched a no-hitter. After that, he got accepted to a Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) program team where the selection began. Then there were a few more rounds where Phillips only got two opportunities to pitch before the team was announced.
Photo of Brennan Phillips pitching by Team USA Unknown Photographer
Phillips comments, “We had to wait around to see if you made it, and they called the whole team into a meeting room and listed off who made the 25 man roster, which is the final roster to play for the 18U National USA Team.”
Phillips gained lots of experience and skills from the Owasso Rams baseball team. Despite losing to Jenks in the semifinals of the state tournament last year, Phillips helped lead the team to the great season.
Phillips revealed, “Owasso Baseball has done a lot for me such as taking care of me and learning more about baseball and lots of other things.”
With these, Phillips has set big goals that may not seem achievable to everyone, but he has no doubt that he can do it. Phillips is looking to play in the Major League Baseball (MLB) where he wants to play professionally.
Phillips commented, “If I don’t get drafted, I will be going to College at OSU to play baseball as a starting pitcher for two years. Then I will re enter the draft after that and we will see what happens there. For career goals I want to throw 95mph and get drafted, but that's very hard to do for a high school athlete.”
To achieve these goals, Phillips must’ve had some people in his life to help guide him, right? Well that is exactly so, as Phillips’ dad has played an extensive role in his success.
Phillip admires, “The person that has guided me through baseball and life the most is my dad. He is always there watching me when he is off work to see me play and tell me what I'm doing wrong.”
With all the useful knowledge Phillips has gained from the Owasso Rams team to now the USA team, he is ready to lead the Rams to a state championship in the spring. Baseball season is not quite here yet, but when the time comes, Phillips and the boys are going to be ready to come for their revenge and claim the championship.