A love for baseball in his family has spurred Stilwell sophomore Cole Wilhite to continue that tradition for the Indians. 

“My grandpa, uncle and cousins all played baseball. My mom and my sister Jolie played softball and my sister even wrestled in college,” said Cole.

Wilhite is a jack of all trades on the diamond where he can play just about any position and is one of the top pitchers on the staff this year.

“I really like pitching best because I like being in a position to control the game,” Cole said who also plays travel ball for the Sallisaw Sticks where he pitches and plays shortstop.

He counts his dad as one of his main role models even though he doesn’t have a baseball background.

“He’s been with me every step of the way and is always pushing me to be a better athlete and a better person.”

Growing up, Cole always wore jersey number 13 because it was his lucky number. But if you watch Cole play today, you’ll have to look for number 23.

“I had 13 forever but it got ripped up last year and so this year I’ve had to wear 23,” Cole said rather sadly.

Asked to describe himself in three words, Cole Wilhite answered dedicated, reliable and durable.

“I think being dedicated is the most important of those,” he said. “If I set my mind to something, I do my best to achieve it.”

Cole doesn’t have to look too far back in time to capture a special memory.

“Recently I pitched against Hulbert and struck out 13 which is my best game so far.”

Having lost nine seniors off last year’s team, Cole acknowledges that getting everyone together has been a bit of a challenge.

“We’ve got a lot of pieces to the puzzle-we just need to put them all together by playoff time and I think we can.”

Though baseball will always be the heart of the matter for Cole Wilhite he says he may give football a try next fall.