By Bruce Campbell, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle
ENID —
The regional baseball tournament told the story of the Plainsmen’s 18-16 season in James Peoples’ first year as head coach.
Enid did not commit an error in beating Midwest City 14-0 in the first round but committed eight miscues in falling to the same Bombers 10-7 the next day in an elimination game.
The Plainsmen lost to defending state champion Owasso 20-0 in the winners bracket finals.
The inconsistencies could be expected in a rebuilding year. Mike Phillips was the lone returning pitcher who had thrown more than 10 innings the season before.
“The kids overall played really well and really hard,’’ Peoples said, “but we knew we would have questions on the mound. It all starts on the mound. We had problems with consistency early.’’
Plainsmen pitchers did not have a good strikeout-to-walk ratio (171-135).
Phillips (6-5, 2.53) was a control artist with 47 strikeouts and 14 walks. Christian Lafontan (6-1, 3.09) survived a rocky start to post a respectable 56 strikeouts to 35 walks.
The rest of the Plainsmen staff had 87 walks to 68 strikeouts. The team ERA was 4.52.
“Mike Phillips and Christian Lafontan gave us a chance when they were on the mound,’’ Peoples said.
“No one wanted to step up and give us quality innings after that. We had some young kids step up at times. That gives us some experience to build on for next year.’’
Lawson King (2-2, 6.11 ERA), Tanner Leon (1-4, 7.24) and Nick Keeling (1-2, 4.85) were up and down.
Peoples wants to get them as many innings as possible this summer so they can make the impact Phillips and Lafontan did this season.
Phillips left the Midwest City elimination game with arm problems in the third inning. Peoples said EHS would have won with their ace on the mound.
“We didn’t play back-to-back bad games until the regional tournament,’’ Peoples said. “It’s tough playing after a loss like we had to Owasso. The guys couldn’t get focused.’’
The Plainsmen hit .300 as a team. They were shut out only four times.
“I was really pleased with our hitting,’’ Peoples said.
Shortstop Seth Floyd hit over .400 for the second straight season, batting .441 with two home runs and 29 RBI.
Sophomore Brady Baugh was close behind at .419. He had an on-base percentage of .535.
“It’s good to have a guy like that back,’’ Peoples said.
The Plainsmen had three other .300 hitters in senior first baseman Erick Ramirez (.340), senior third baseman Miguel Bretado (.309) and junior right fielder Dylan Walker (.325).
Junior second baseman Colter LeGrant (.292), junior center fielder Joe Black (.280), senior catcher Joe Phillips (.270) and junior designated hitter Brock Enmeier (.273) weren’t far behind.
“We had a lot of guys step up,’’ Peoples said.
The Plainsmen will lose three-fourths of their infield in Ramirez, Floyd and Bretado, the catcher and the two pitching aces.
Walker is expected to move from right to second next season, with LeGrant taking over at short.
“I think we can be pretty solid next year,’’ Peoples said. “We just have to have some young kids step up and throw strikes and give us a chance to play good defense behind them.’’
The Plainsmen had a fielding percentage of .938. Peoples said throughout the season the more strikes his pitchers threw, the better the defense was behind them.
“There are about eight to 10 games that we lost that we could have won if we made one more play or two,’’ Peoples said, “but that’s true for every season.’’
Pitching coach Dennom Sullivan will manage the Connie Mack team this summer. Most of the 2011 varsity is expected to play for that team.
Peoples will coach a 16-under team that will include several promising freshmen. Jerry Kearney, Peoples said, has a chance to break into the rotation. The sophomore-to-be is expected to be throwing in the mid-80s by next spring.
Cedric Rose or Jake Walker, the younger brother of Dylan, is expected to replace Joe Phillips at catcher. Phillips, in his first year as a starter, was becoming a dependable defensive backstop.
Hayden Houska, who primarily was a courtesy runner this spring, is projected to be playing third base. He has good speed and showed promise in limited action.
Peoples, a long-time assistant, learned as a head coach.
“It was about what we expected,’’ Peoples said. “I’m looking to taking that forward.’’
The Plainsmen failed to make state for only the second time in the last six seasons.
“Next year our goal is going to be the same as it always is,’’ Peoples said. “We want to host a regional and we want to get back to state. We’re going to get them hooked up this summer and ready to go.’’
Sullivan is ready to find some pitchers.
“If they can pitch, we’re going to send them out there,’’ he said.
