TOP ATLETE OF THE PAST 30 YEARS: NICK PHILLIPS (BARTLESVILLE)

By Mike Tupa

Jan. 30, 2026

BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT

During his nearly 30 years of covering area high school sports for either the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise or the Bartlesville Area Sports Report, Mike Tupa has enjoyed the opportunity to observe some incredible athletes.

This is an ongoing series highlighting, each few days, one of those athletes from the 1996-97 school year through the present. The list is not in chronological order. The athletes are presented in random sequence.

Today's Spotlight

NICK PHILLIPS (Bartlesville)

(Mid 2000s)

It was a shining era for Bartlesville High School baseball talent — and Nick Phillips was one of the brightest stars.

Whether he was holding a bat, fielding a ball or standing tall on the mound Phillips was one of the best-ever to suit up for the Bruins. 

He extended his considerable diamond acumen to the Bartlesville American Legion baseball program.

He locked down a Division I baseball scholarship to Kansas State — although he would later transfer to Central Missouri to play for head coach Tom Myers, another Bartlesville High/American Legion product.

Even though it’s been more than 15 years since Phillips last suited up for Bartlesville High, his presence looms large in the recollections of those who saw him work his magic between the foul lines.

More than that, Phillips bled Bruin blue. He always squeezed into the front row of the raucous and overcrowded compressed student section — which literally blended into an ocean of faces and shoulders — at basketball games in the old gym or for road games.

Phillips and his Bruin baseball teammates — especially catcher Joe Kelton, with who he would be linked as the faces of the Bruin revival uncorked by new head coach Spence Rigdon — also attracted a swarm of followers at Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium, stirring up the rafter pigeons and keeping the Big A fans churning non-stop.

No Bruin season excited the imagination or infused the community with more voltage than 2006 — when the Bruins qualified for state after a thrilling run through the regional.

How significant was that against the backdrop of Bartlesville baseball history? Bartlesville hasn’t been back to state in the 19 seasons since.

Bartlesville began its 2006 postseason run with a loss.

Moore scored six runs in the bottom of the third and hung on to win, 6-4.

Bartlesville snapped back with a 10-0 rout of Tulsa Washington, behind the pitching of Tyson Fugett — who also would sign a Division I letter of intent (Wichita State). Phillips smashed a two-run double to energize the offensive uprising.

Bartlesville then faced a daunting task — defeating Broken Arrow twice on its home field — in the regional final and qualified for state for the first time in 15 years.

In the first regional final, Bartlesville outlasted Broken Arrow, 9-7, and then triumphed in the ‘if’ game, 8-7.

Phillips crushed two homers and drove in six runs  — including a two-run dinger in the seventh to tie the game and a  three-RBI dinger in the ninth inning — in the 9-7 win.

Phillips also belted a solo homer in the 8-7 win for the regional crown and to improve Bartlesville’s record to 24-12-1.

The state tournament back then was double-elimination. After losing the first game, the Bruins bounced back to beat Enid, 7-1, thanks partly to a rocket double by Phillips to plate Fugett for the game’s first run. Phillips later doubled home Fugett again.

The Bruins would be eliminated in the next round to end their campaign — and the high school careers of Phillips and eight other seniors — at 25-14-1.

Phillips also racked up several highlights for the Doenges Ford Indians in Legion ball in the summer of 2006.

He led the team in multiple RBI games (12), RBI (49), hit-by-pitch (eight) and batting average (.391, 78-179) and also registered 44 runs scored, 20 multiple-hit games, 15 extra-base hits (including five homers), 23 walks and 14 stolen bases.

Phillips labored one season (2007) — as a pitcher only — at Kansas State. He turned in good numbers in limited action — nine games, 8.1 innings, 3.24 Earned Run Average, four K’s, three BBs.

In 2008, Phillips transferred to Central Missouri, where he carved out a strong legacy.

His yearly stats at Central Missouri included:

— 2008 (pitching: 19 appearances (3 starts), 43.1 IP, 4-3 W-L, 3.53 ERA, 13 BBs, 38 K’s, .276 opp. BA. (team—47-17).

— 2009 (pitching): 26 appearances, 41.0 IP, 8-0 W-L, 1.76 ERA, 13 BB’s, 40 K’s, 0 HR’s allowed .190 opp. BA. (team—44-15).

— 2010 (pitching only) — 23 appearances, 29.2 IP, 2-3 W-L, 2.73 ERA, 10 BB’s, 32 K’s, 4 HBP, .242 opp. BA. (team—52-11).

— Total: 68 appearances (3 starts), 114 IP, 2.65 ERA (approx.), 14-6 W-L, 36 BB’s, 110 K’s. (team—143-43).

No report about Phillips is complete without mentioning his brother Drew — who played one year in the Cincinnati Reds’ organization — and his parents, who were incredibly supportive.

As a member of the dads’ crew, Billy Phillips dropped enough sweat on the Doenges diamond — while he raked basepaths, chalked lines, pounded down loose dirt on the mound, hosed the infield grass, spread out the giant tarp during rain storms, hauled equipment to and from the field and whatever else needed to be done — to grow a good size corn crop. He was one of hundreds of dads, guardians or others that helped prepare the field for games in order to free up the coach to coach and the players to focus on baseball and not gardening. His mother, Nina, helped on the mom's end, and she and Nick's beloved grandmother, Joan Bolen, were always a fixture in the stands.

Nick remains one of the most dynamic, physically-suited, talented and determined baseball players in Bartlesville/American Legion history — as well as part of the area roll call for the elite diamond warriors.

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Nick Phillips

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This series has featured the following athletes, listed in no particular order.

-Jena’ Williams, Bartlesville

-Eric Rolfs, Bartlesville

-Chris Smith, Caney Valley

-Jill Bryan, Copan

-Barron Tanner Jr, Bartlesville

-Hailey Tucker, Bartlesville

-Jeremy Dunkle, Dewey

-Whitney Metcalf, Bartlesville

-Tim Hamilton, Bartlesville

-Danielle Koster, Bartlesville

-Carson LaRue, Dewey

-John Hamman, Wesleyan Christian

-Jamie Elam, Caney Valley

-Sam Mitchell, Bartlesville

-Karissa Jones, Dewey

-Noah Hartsock, Bartlesville

-Tiffany Paper, Copan

-AJ Parker, Bartlesville

-Tiffany Eden, Caney Valley

-Henry Williams, Bartlesville

-Markell Carter, Bartlesville

-Rebecca Schluter, Wesleyan Christian

-Adam Hibdon, Barnsdall

-Tishuana Hunter, Nowata

-Nate Alleman, Bartlesville

-Jessie Burch, Dewey

-Joey McNair, Caney Valley/Bartlesville

-Michael Thompson, Bartlesville

-Kate Steward, Bartlesville

-Jarrett Rouse, Community

-Amanda Warehime, Bartlesville

-Trey Osborne, Dewey

-Heather Lanphear, Barnsdall

-Erin Epperson, Bartlesville

-Levi Wyrick, Caney Valley (Kan.)

-Spencer Magana, Dewey

-Jackie Jo Chaney, Copan

-Haley Downey, Bartlesville

-Cooper Fogle, Caney Valley

-Amanda Brown, Copan 

-Rachel Smith, Pawhuska

-Casey Cassity, Barnsdall

-Stacy Cornforth, Bartlesville

-Gabby Higbee, Dewey

-Kirby Schoenthaler, Bartlesville

-Tyler Kay, Barnsdall

-Colton Penrod, Bartlesville

-Erin Herchock, Dewey

-Lindsey Collins, Caney Valley

-Nathan Hughes, Bartlesville

-Aaron Hunt, Copan

-Calan Crowder, Bartlesville

-Colby Kohlmeyer, Caney Valley

-Allison Hunt, Copan

-Stephen Garrett, Dewey

-Brett Turowski, Bartlesville

-Hayley Bryan, Copan

-Kaitlyn Ritchie, Bartlesville

-Caroline Courtney, Bartlesville

-Preston Bartley, Copan

-Chris Turner, Bartlesville

-Michael Wolfe, Bartlesville

-Caleb Hawes, Barnsdall

-Austin Beck, Nowata

-Kortney Bridges, Dewey

-Brandi Schueler, Bartlesville