Living for the moment: Standout senior shortstop/pitcher knows how to win for Oklahoma power Silo
By Patrick Kays
Photo of Silo's Kyler Proctor (10) by Kevin Farr, Bryan County News
His whole life has been baseball.
Kyler Proctor can’t recall a time in his life where he did not love the game of baseball. From learning to walk with a plastic bat in his hands - to helping the Silo Rebels win multiple state championships, Proctor has been a fan of the great game.
As his senior season barrels towards the postseason, Proctor's horizon is starting to show hints of Cowboy orange following a commitment to play baseball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
For a college program that is one of the nation's better programs, they have struggled to find themselves at Omaha on a regular basis.
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Since their 1999 appearance in the College World Series, the Cowboys have made the NCAA tournament 16 times but have only managed one appearance in the CWS, in 2016.
With the addition of Proctor at shortstop, the Cowboys are knowingly getting a guy that is very comfortable in big games and knows how to win.
That's the culture of the Silo Rebels.
Known for being the best baseball program in the state of Oklahoma with the winningest high school coach in the nation in Billy Jack Bowen, Proctor is engulfed in a culture of success.
Silo has won 10 spring ball state titles since 2008, including five straight going into this season. Last spring, they capped off a perfect 30-0 season by capturing the Class 2A title, and finished No. 1 in the final SBLive Oklahoma rankings.
They also have touted six fall state titles since 2006, with the most recent fall title being in 2021.
That 2021 fall championship was polished and secured on a walk-off home run by Proctor at the Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, home to the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate Oklahoma City Dodgers, where notable players like Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy and Corey Seager have played.
In a place like that, the moment was not too big for the then-junior shortstop/pitcher.
“That moment was crazy. We got into a bind in the top of the seventh. ... Due to the rules on pitch count, I could only pitch to one more batter,” said Proctor. “I ended up striking out that batter to get out of the inning.
“As I was walking up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, everything was just running through my head, ‘I just gotta get on base. I gotta get something started.' I hit it as perfect as you could get and it started sailing.”
And Proctor had a short, but accurate assessment, of his reaction when the ball cleared the wall and the Rebels claimed another championship.
“It was unreal," he said.
Proctor, who was crowned as the OKPreps 2022 Player of the Year, continues to be trusted as the Rebels' ace and one-hole hitter. It seems to be due to his ability to perform in big moments on a consistent basis.
“Once you get used to the big moment, it will always be a big moment but it feels like any other moment,” said Proctor. “You do what you do and you perform.”
With some of the best range in the state at shortstop, elite speed that holds him the state spring and fall record for career triples at 23, and an arm that hits speeds of 92 miles per hour - he could even see some two-way action in the proclaimed ‘’world's greatest orange" of Oklahoma State.
With a commitment in tow for Proctor, the dreaming doesn’t stop there.
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“My ultimate dream is to make it to the big leagues, but the main dream is to just be the best player I can possibly be,” said Proctor. “No matter what happens, no matter what the situation is, just be the best I can be.”
It has seemed to be a lifelong pattern of Proctor’s, who has seen his body, strength and skills transform throughout the years. It was his maturing in middle school that made him realize this could be more than just a hobby for him.
“It probably started when I was in middle school when I started throwing the ball a little harder,” said Proctor. “When I started throwing the ball harder, I started to get bigger and then I started hitting the ball a little farther. I started to think, ‘Man, I could really pick up on this.'"
The range might have come from binging videos of his favorite player, Yankee legend Derek Jeter. A shortstop.
“When you are a little kid, you’d love to imitate your heroes,” said Proctor. “I would watch them and try to do what they were doing.”
Silo's Kyler Proctor
The Major League conversion doesn’t stop there. As of now, the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals have all expressed some interest in Proctor's talents - making draft day a little more interesting for Proctor's future.
Maybe even some extra stress on the OSU staff front. We shall see come July 9-11 for the 2023 MLB Draft.
One may be sure that many kids mimic Proctor out in Silo like Proctor did Jeter, given he may be a professional baseball player one day.
That imitation will surely grow whether he's drafted or if he steps on campus in Stillwater, and Oklahoma State baseball surely knows that - which is why they targeted Proctor early in the summer between his sophomore and junior year.
After pulling his commitment from the University of Oklahoma during his sophomore year, Proctor was swarmed with attention - including Oklahoma State.
“A lot of teams started talking to me while I was in some tournaments the summer after my sophomore year,” said Proctor. “Then, Oklahoma State came in and started talking to me after seeing me in the state tournament.”
That kid-like awe during a visit, was all it took to win him over.
“The stadium, just the baseball atmosphere is a whole other level,” said Proctor “The coaches, you can't get any more big time than that.”
He committed shortly after that to his new home.
“It’s not too far from home which is a big one," Proctor said. "It felt like home away from home.”
Proctor will certainly be remembered as one of the best players to come through Silo. The pattern of hard work and consistency says he will continue those ways wherever he goes.
Poke fans will hope that the trophies come with him.
However, pro baseball may be knocking on Proctor's door sooner rather than later.
