DAUGHERTY SIGNS WITH THE TWINS

Kingfisher’s Ian Daugherty has more baseball to play. The former Yellowjacket All-State selection and Oklahoma State University Cowboy catcher signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Minnesota Twins organization. The announcement came Monday evening at the conclusion of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft. Daugherty just wrapped up his Cowboy baseball career, which concluded with a senior season that saw him bat .258 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs. Daugherty was the winning pitcher in 2019 when KHS won its first-ever baseball state tournament game. A sophomore, he was 10-0 that season with a 0.57 ERA. He missed out on his junior season due to COVID, but came back to bat .465 with seven home runs to lead the Jackets back to the 4A state tournament as a senior. He was 6-1 as a starting pitcher, but played 125 innings behind home plate and threw out 12 of 19 would-be base stealers. A 2021 class valedictorian, Daugherty was also a starter on the Jackets’ 4A state basketball championship team as a senior. His career at OSU saw him play in 137 games, starting in 107 of them. He hit for a .263 average, had 18 home runs, 73 runs scored and 68 RBIs. He’ll fly to Fort Myers, Fla., the Twins’ spring training home, this weekend and will soon start playing in the Rookie League. Look for more on Daugherty in upcoming editions. [Photo by Russell Stitt/www.stitt.smugmug. com]