Matt Martin, who will enter his senior year at Blair in the fall, made the Oklahoma squad after tryouts last week at Dolese Park in Oklahoma City.
The Sunbelt Classic series pits some of the top players in Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arizona and Canada.
The series will be played from June 8-12 at McAlester and Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton.
In the Spring of his junior season Martin was a mainstay on the Broncs district championship team. He hit for an average of .440 with six home runs. In six seasons three in the Fall and three in the Spring he has hit 32 home runs.
“His biggest attribute is his catching, the way he handles the pitchers,” Blair Head Baseball Coach Jeremy McIntosh said. “Coaches called around and got scouting reports about him and they wouldn’t run on him.”
The Sunbelt Classic Series has a tradition rich history.
In the 33 years of the games, the Classic has produced 192 players who have played in the Series and have played in the Major Leagues.
Two of the most notable and famous stars to participate are the “Big Unit” Randy Johnson of California, the winner of five Cy Young awards and Troy Aikman of Oklahoma who quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins.
There are three Big League Managers from Oklahoma including Ron Gardenhimer of the Minnesota Twins from Okmulgee, John Russell (Pittsburgh Pirates) from Norman and A.J. Hinch (Oakland Athletics) from Midwest City who starred in the Sunbelt Series.
There have been 549 who played professional baseball and 109 who have been named to All-American teams.
The Series that produced the most big leaguers was in 1978 when Oklahoma had five and California seven. Also, in 1978, Alan Davis who played for California was named American League Rookie of the Year.
A new Sunbelt Classic record was established when Payton Benson of Oklahoma hit three consecutive home runs in one game in 2011.
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