MacArthur First Baseman Added to Oklahoma's Accolade Rank
Gehrig Phillips plays first base on MacArthur High School’s baseball team in Lawton, Oklahoma.
He received the Oklahoma Top 100 accolade during the pre-season, ranking 80th in the state, and in Prep Baseball, he was ranked fifth in the state at first base.
“My preseason kind of went off into a rough start,” Phillips said. “I did have a foot break injury during football season, so it was just kind of rough going through it at the very beginning, and then I got back. It was healing, and then I kind of just hopped straight into the cages right after that, after that it just went really smooth.”
He has several highlights throughout his career so far.
“The highlights in high school baseball, my freshman year, I hit a .322 batting average, and in the Bo Bowman hosted here in Lawton, Oklahoma, I hit my first ever home run, high school home run, on this field actually,” Phillips said. “And then my sophomore year, I hit, I batted a .352 with two home runs, one at Carl Albert and one in, where was it? Oh, here on this field again, and that's about how it went.”
He hopes to break records this season and make it to state.
“I'm looking forward to having a .500 record this season, have a great season, hopefully make it to the state tournament with this team,” Phillips said. “I love this team, I couldn't ask for any other team and these teammates.”
He said MacArthur baseball is special due to the staff and team.
“You know, we've got a whole bunch of leaders on this team, and [I], as myself, and a few other ones really love leading this team,” Phillips said. “Coaching staff, they're great, but it's really just these teammates, they work hard, man, I couldn't ask for any others.”
He began playing T-ball when he was four and said his mom and grandfather got him involved in the sport. Philips enjoys golfing and fishing.
“One of my unique talents that I have, it's really funny, I can do the worm, especially the worm, it's just really funny that they see a big guy doing it and they're just surprised by it,” he said.
Phillips also speaks Comanche and takes Comanche III at the high school.
