Red Oak High School state champion baseball coach Cody Pair departs for Oologah-Talala

Red Oak baseball coach Cody Pair won a state championship in his first year there but is now the new baseball and fast pitch softball coach at Oologah-Talala "without hard feelings."

“I was born and raised in Northeast Oklahoma and my family is still all up in Northeast Oklahoma,” Pair said. “Oologah is just up the road from a school I coached at in my career seven years back or so, Claremore, Oklahoma.

“A lot of my really good friends are still in Claremore, so family, friends and being closer to them, that’s the main reason; that’s the biggest thing. My sons, my oldest son (Chase Pair) just graduated for us, played for us as a senior at Red Oak; then, my youngest son (Chance Pair) who was a sophomore and is going to be a junior, their grandparents were driving three hours to watch games at Red Oak.”

A call and message left to Red Oak High School for comment didn't receive an immediate response.

During his time at Oklahoma's Red Oak, Pair led the Eagles to a state quarterfinal appearance in the fall season and then followed that up with a 7-6 Class A spring state championship win over No. 1 seed Canute.

The state championship marked its seventh Oklahoma spring baseball title and first since 2016. The previous six and five fall titles for the school were won under coach Trey Booth, who accomplished 30 straight state tournament appearances that were maintained with two more under Pair.

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Oologah-Talala finished 20-13 in spring baseball and 17-13 in fast pitch softball during the fall, both coached by Jason Brown who recently retired.

The fast pitch program has won seven state titles, with the most recent coming in 2012. The baseball program, which only plays in the spring season, has won two 4A titles, 2005 and 2006, in eight state tournament appearances.

Pair’s previous baseball coaching experience includes being an assistant at Claremore from 2012-2015, before earning 111 wins at Coweta from 2016-2021. At Coweta, the Tigers reached the Oklahoma Class 5A state semifinals three times (2017, 2019, 2021) for a program that had only reached the state tournament once since 2001 prior to his arrival.

Pair hasn’t been a high school softball coach but spent two seasons as a junior high assistant during his time at Coweta, in addition to helping with the varsity.

Pair holds a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Northeastern State, with a secondary certification in math and social studies. He later earned a master’s degree in school administration from Southern Nazarene.

Hired on July 11, Pair enters his ninth year as a math teacher.

“I think a lot of people would tell you that I’m a players’ coach,” Pair said. “And I think some people have a negative connotation with that; they think that that is soft or maybe you are just too nice. It’s not about soft or nice; it’s about understanding that this game is about relationships and when you coach kiddos, they’ve got to know you care about them. When they know that you care about them, my experience is man, they play really hard for you.”

This story will continue to be updated.

You can follow Bryant Roche on Twitter @BRocheSports and you can email him at BRoche@gannett.com