Organized Chaos

R.L. Turner had two official coaches on its roster: Bill Shields and Dennis Sauls.

What isn’t shown on a simple list is the support of every parent, with each father and/or uncle participating in practice. Shields and Sauls both relayed to me how vital the parents were to the success of R.L. Turner that summer.

One in particular was Richard Ogburn. He was charged with working with the team’s pitchers. He spent many years with the group, watching their progression into capable young hurlers.

R.L. Turner had four arms in the mix at the time of the Little League World Series. They were Mark Sauls, Josh Cooper, Trey Shields and Clete Thomas, who participated in the event in relief situations.

Ogburn said the four pitchers were smart and ready to perform.

“Every single one of those guys who worked in the bullpen were quick studies,” Ogburn said. “They worked religiously on mechanics, and we had them throw a lot.”

Back then the most important factor was pitches thrown in an inning. Now coaches are more concerned with strict pitch counts or innings of work. However, when a pitcher throw a lot of pitches in one inning, say 25 or more Ogburn said, that’s when they grew concerned.

“Once you get beyond 25 pitches that’s a tremendous danger for a young pitcher,” Ogburn said.

Luckily for R.L. Turner, it had solid defense to get out of innings in a jam. There were few jams in Williamsport, Pa., save the final loss, and it was due to strong pitching to go with one of the better hitting teams in the field.

Sauls, the youngest on the team, became the ace by virtue of being the most consistent. He had command of the strike zone, he said, which is a key ingredient for a player at that level.

Shields was hot and cold, Ogburn said, but pointed out that he had command of a good curve. Cooper was the fireballer of the group, approaching 80 miles per hour with his fastball.

Then there was Thomas, who was only as good as his instruction, Ogburn said.

“The thing with Clete is you better tell him to do it right the first time because he will do exactly what you told him to do,” Ogburn said.

Ogburn, now 53, had fond memories of the Little League World Series. He was among a group of parents and relatives who made the trek North to see their children play. Ogburn is the father of Josh Ogburn, one of the 14 on the all-star team.

Richard Ogburn has been a local attorney in Panama City for 27 years. He recalled having to close down the office for six weeks, as the team competed in various tournaments in 1996.

He remembered the high points and the low points and everything in between. He was pleased to see his son, like all the other boys, enjoy the ride.

But there was a time when it all needed to end, when the special visits and celebrations needed to cease so they could get back to normal life.

“It finally got to a point when they wanted to be left alone,” Ogburn said. “That happened about four weeks after they got back.”

Be sure to check out the special series, “Turning 12.” You can read the stories and check out a photo gallery by surfing over to newsherald.com

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