Oklahoma prep star Brumbaugh eyes Diamond Hog future and state title

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

FAYETTEVILLE – It will be a couple of months before it’s solidified whether Oklahoma prep baseball star and Arkansas signee Carson Brumbaugh will be playing in Fayetteville next season.


But the 6-2, 195-pound Edmond Santa Fe shortstop can certainly envision a future in a Razorback uniform if the pick and money aren’t enough in the July 13-15 Major League Draft in Atlanta.

“For me I am just trying to focus on the process and the work that I am putting in and letting everything else play out by itself,” Brumbaugh said. “I am just going out there, compete and try to be the best version of me that I can be and everything else will play itself out.

“If I get drafted and want to sign for however much money it is, then I’ll do that. But if not, then I will go to Arkansas, get better for a few years and then as a junior get even more money in the draft in a few years.

“Either way it is a win-win. I want to play college baseball and I want to play for that staff. I want to win a championship in Fayetteville.”

Going to college would give Brumbaugh the opportunity to play with good friend and currently injured Arkansas freshman pitcher Carson Wiggins for one of college baseball’s elite teams.

“I have seen almost every conference game on TV and they are fun to watch,” noted Brumbaugh, a one-time Tennessee commit. “They can swing it, the pitching has been a little on and off, but when they are on, they are really on.

“…I talk to my best friend Carson Wiggins all the time and he just kind of lets me know what is going on. It seems like they have really great chemistry and have a belief in the locker room and they are just continuing to get better.”

Brumbaugh has a special interest in the Arkansas-Tennessee series beginning Thursday night at Baum-Walker Stadium.

He originally committed to Tennessee after a visit in November of 2023, but then de-committed on Sept. 9, 2024 and pledged to Arkansas on Oct. 26.

“There were a lot of things that played into it, but if there was one thing to pick out, it was 4th collectiveness of the (Arkansas) coaching staff coming after me and recruiting me,” Brumbaugh said.

“It wasn’t like one coach at a time, it was all of them at once. It was like a group of them recruiting me. I like the connection I got from each coach – Coach Van Horn, (hitting) Coach (Nate) Thompson, (pitching) Coach Hobbs and (assistant) Coach (Bobby) Wernes.

“I also got to talk to the strength coach quite a bit and obviously the facilities there are just insane. And look at only being three hours from home. So I felt like it was a pretty easy decision.”

Brumbaugh and Edmond Santa Fe (31-7) are riding a 19-game winning streak and will face Broken Arrow (20-17) Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Class 6A state tournament.

Edmond Santa Fe also features pitcher and Oklahoma commit Savion Sims, who has a 98 miles per hour fast ball and is expected to be taken in the 2026 MLB draft.

“We have played really well this season, doing the things we needed to do to win and playing one inning at time,” Brumbaugh said. ‘We just want to keep it going.”

Brumbaugh, ranked No. 61 in Perfect Game’s 2025 high school prospects, has thrived at the top of the Edmond Santa Fe batting line up.

“It has been a really good season for me in the leadoff spot this year,” Brumbaugh said. “I have been able to adjust to a different role as I have hit in the two hole two of my last three years.

“I have been learning just how to see pitches, work at bats and become a more consistent hitter. I just feel like that has been they biggest improvement for me this yea and I have been consistently producing game in and game out.”

Photo courtesy of Carson Brumbaugh