Enid News and Eagle
ENID — Enid’s baseball team will try to shake off some rust today when the No. 19 Plainsmen (2-0) visit No. 13 Yukon (3-0) for a noon game.
Enid, after the Yukon game, will be off to Orange Beach, Ala., for the Oklahoma-Alabama Challenge, which begins Monday.
Mike Phillips, the winning pitcher in a 10-4 win over the Oklahoma City Bronchos March 4, will be on the mound for the Plainsmen, who haven’t played since a 7-3 win over No. 20 Southmoore March 6.
Phillips, Enid coach James Peoples said, pitched well against the Bronchos after struggling in the first inning.
The Millers have to replace the 1-2 pitching punch of Chad James, the No. 1 draft choice of the Florida Marlins, and Ryan Gibson, who now is pitching for the University of Oklahoma.
Yukon has wins over Lawton Eisenhower and Choctaw.
“They have some young hitters that can swing the bats,’’ said Peoples. “We’re going to have to pitch well and swing the bats ourselves.’’
The Plainsmen were limited this week because of testing in the ninth week of school and rainy weather, which forced most of their practices inside.
“We’re ready to get outside and get after it,’’ Peoples said.
Mikey Bretado leads EHS with a .750 batting average and five RBI. Colter LeGrant is hitting .600 while Joe Phillips and Seth Floyd are hitting .429. Phillips and Floyd homered against Southmoore.
“It’s going to take 10 to 12 games to evaluate what we have,’’ Peoples said. “Our offense is doing well. Our pitchers didn’t throw enough strikes against Southmoore. You can’t defend walks. We just want them to throw strikes and let the defense do the work.’’
