Published: May 11, 2008 12:16 am            

Field succeeds at Hamilton, Couch Park

Grant Field started the year with an All-State-caliber football campaign.

The Stillwater High senior receiver caught 52 passes for 850 yards and eight touchdowns. The 52 receptions are second in school history, while his 102 career catches rank third.

He was honored with the All-State recognition before baseball began, and then had a great year on the diamond. The left-fielder hit .389 with a .485 on-base percentage, 12 doubles, a triple, 28 RBIs and 27 runs scored.

For shining on both Hamilton Field and Couch Park Diamond, Field is being named the NewsPress’ SHS Male Athlete of the Year.

“Grant meant a lot to us,” said SHS football coach Rusty Atkins. “He’s always a threat, someone people had to look out for. You had to pay attention to where he was and he made some big plays for us. He was definitely a focus for us.”

Atkins said Field had the athleticism to stack up with any of the great SHS receivers, including Trey Waters, John Martin, Marcus Jones and Leonard Jones.

“He was a possession receiver who stretched down the field,” Atkins added. “He brought a lot of different things to the table. ... You keep on going down the list of receivers we had and he’s the type of guy we looked for. A good size body and very physical. He was good when he caught the ball.”

He helped lead the Pioneers to the first round of the Class 6A playoffs and a 6-5 campaign.

“I knew Lane (White’s) first year as a starting quarterback, we might not throw as much,” Field said. “We actually threw it a lot. I was pretty happy with the year I had.”

Then when baseball rolled around, he got the job done in left.

“I thought he made a huge improvement from his junior year,” said coach Gary Gardner. “He was a very consistent player for us. He’s a very good athlete with great foot speed — a big, strong kid that puts a lot of pressure on defenses because of his ability to run.”

His foot speed also allowed him to chase down balls in the gap, which was a key component of the team going 25-14 and reaching the Regional final for the fifth straight year.

“I thought we did pretty good,” Field said. “We were a lot better team this year. You could tell with our record. I wish we could have made it to State. We played our best but just couldn’t come up with it.”

He said his biggest regret from his time playing as a Pioneer is that he didn’t get to compete in a state baseball tournament or go further in the football playoffs.

But he will still get that chance to be in the All-State football contest on Aug. 1 at Mustang. Then he will be playing collegiately — though he’s still unsure of what or where.

He is considering a football offer from Southern Illinois or baseball offers from several junior colleges that are closer to home.

He said he has learned from his older brother, Garrett, who accepted a baseball scholarship to Penn State but is finishing his academic career at Oklahoma State.

“He had chances to go to OSU or Kansas, but he just wanted to get away,” Field said. “I think he regretted that. He misses baseball and now he wishes he had just started at OSU.”

That’s one thing about Grant — he will listen and learn.

“He is a quiet kid,” Gardner said. “He doesn’t talk a whole lot. He’s a great kid to be around. He’s coachable and most of the time he had a smile on his face and enjoyed playing the game.”

        

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