Doenges Ford Indians aim for state title in 89th season

Bartlesville's longest-continuing sports tradition is primed to produce a new chapter to its gritty summer legacy.

Tradition has a double meaning this year for the Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians. Not only is summer amateur teenage baseball returning to Rigdon Field at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium for the 89th-straight season, but the program is rejoining the American Legion Baseball realm.

As a Legion member, the Indians will be eligible to play for a state title and to qualify for the American Legion Mid-South Regional. This season marks 55 years since Bartlesville last won a regional title and played the American Legion World Series.

Six Indian veterans will form the team's foundation. They survived the cuts during Thursday's team tryouts at Doenges Stadium.

John Pannell — entering a record 13th season as head coach — pared down Thursday's slate of approximately 20 hopefuls to a roster of 14 players, led by veterans Nik Johnson, Kaleb Bashford, Brendan Asher, Kael Siemers, Luke Fox and Trey Bennett.

"We'll definitely be loaded behind the plate," Pannell said. "The infield is going to be solid."

Pannell also expects Fox to perform his usual defensive magic in center field, adding, "He's amazing out there."

The pressing question now is making the right fit in the two corner outfield spots.

Rounding out the 14-man squad are Hunter Shea, Eric Olenberger, Grant Clark, Jaxon Zaun, Liam Buchanan, Bryce Leulf, Eli Winter and Zane Strickland.

Jason Moore and Brent Butler will assist Pannell.

Asher is back with ace status at pitcher.

Bennett and Olenberger each turned in strong pitching turns last season and Johnson is a proven successful battler on the bump.

The Indians' tentative season opener will be a home Memorial Day Opener that Pannell is still attempting to finalize. The Indians will be on the road next week for a tournament in Ft. Smith, Ark.

Bartlesville began American Legion teenage summer baseball in 1936, with a call for tryouts by Jim MacGregor, a local American Legion post member assigned as the first coach. Back then, the program was known as "Junior Legion," as opposed to the adult Legion baseball teams that existed at the time.

The 1936 team still needed an official mascot. It wasn't until Bill Doenges of the Doenges Ford Auto Dealership began sponsoring the team in the early 1940s that the door was opened for the team to eventually be known as the Doenges Ford Injuns (Injuns was chosen to honor Bartlesville's Native American heritage and also because it rhymed with "engines," a link to the car company connection.)

In the early 2000s, the team became the Doenges Ford Indians.

The longest-serving Indians' coaches before Pannell were Al Solenberger (1964-74) and Stan Walton (1989-99), with 11 years at the helm. Since Solenberger became head coach in 1964, the Indians had boasted at least 57-to-59 winning seasons in 60 summers. The 2024 crew will be battling for the team's first Oklahoma American Legion state title since 1978.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Indians prepare for American Legion Season under coach Pannell