Enid News and Eagle
STILLWATER — —
STILLWATER — “Those base-on-balls will kill you.’’
Those words from Frankie Frisch, the manager of the infamous St. Louis Cardinals Gashouse Gang, were felt by Enid in a 9-7 loss to Midwest City in the Stillwater baseball tournament Thursday.
Plainsmen pitchers walked seven batters, all of whom scored. Enid had out hit the Bombers, 9-7.
Four of those hits came in the seventh inning when the Plainsmen scored four runs to make things interesting.
“We just decided to start playing in the seventh inning,’’ said Enid coach James Peoples. “It’s hard to win when you play only one inning. We didn’t come ready to play. We didn’t throw strikes and we kicked the ball around too much (three errors).’’
Peoples didn’t not blame the loss on Enid playing its fourth game in as many days. The loss dropped the Plainsmen to 12-10 overall and ended a five-game EHS winning streak.
Enid had beaten Midwest City 8-1 at the Gladys Winters Tournament March 26.
“I just think we played the opponent and not the game,’’ Peoples said. “We looked at Midwest City just like they would roll over for us and they didn’t. They are a scrappy bunch.’’
Enid didn’t have a “good approach’’ at the plate until the seventh, Peoples said.
“We started to have some good at bats and finding some holes,’’ Peoples said.
The Plainsmen got RBI singles from Seth Floyd and Miguel Bretado and an RBI double from Dillon Walker. Erick Ramirez had a sacrifice fly for another RBI.
Enid had runners on first and second when reliever Denver Johnson retired Blake Ferguson on a sharply-hit grounder to the pitcher.
“We fell a little short,’’ Peoples said.
Enid starter Lawson King walked the first three batters in the fourth. Tyler Carpenter made him pay for a grand slam homer to give Midwest City a 4-0 lead.
The Plainsmen answered back with three runs in the fifth with Bretado’s RBI double being the big blow. Two more runs scored on Midwest City errors.
Midwest City scored twice in the bottom of the fourth after back-to-back lead-off walks. Johnson had an RBI single.
Jagger Harjo’s bloop two-RBI single made it 7-3 in the fifth. Carpenter’s fifth RBI of the day — an RBI single — was the big blow in a two-run seventh. The first two batters scored after reaching on walks.
Chrisitan Lafontan will pitch for the Plainsmen today when they face Edmond Memorial at 5 p.m. in pool play. Edmond Memorial beat EHS 2-0 on April 1.
“Hopefully, he’ll throw strikes and give us a chance to win,’’ Peoples said.
The game can be heard on KCRC Radio (1390 AM).
MIDWEST CITY 9, ENID 7
ENID 000 300 4 — 7 9 3 7
MWC 004 212 x — 9 7 4 8
King, Bretado (4), Keeling (7) and J. Phillips; Brown, Johnson (7) and Carpenter. WP — Brown. LP — King. HR — Carpenter, MWC.
