Union challenge for Plainsmen

Sports

Discussion

March 14, 2013

Union challenge for Plainsmen

By Ryan Costello, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle The Enid News and Eagle Thu Mar 14, 2013, 10:49 PM CDT

ENID, Okla. — The Enid baseball team had a bumpy start to its district schedule last weekend, dropping both games in a home-and-home against No. 2 Jenks by a combined 26-1 margin.

It gets easier on Friday, but not much.

Already 2-5 and 0-2 in 6A-4 after the Jenks sweep, the Plainsmen welcome fellow district rival No. 7 Tulsa Union for a twinbill scheduled for 6 tonight at David Allen Memorial Ballpark.

Zeke Sarver (0-1) will start the opener, and Jerry Kearney (1-1), the only Plainsmen pitcher to earn a win in a start this season, will pitch the nightcap against the Redskins (5-2, 4-1 6A-4).

“We’re putting the best guys out there we can (in) Sarver and Kearney, and the best lineup we can, which we always try to do all the time anyway,” said Enid coach Bill Mayberry said. “When you play the big four — Union, Jenks, Owasso, Broken Arrow — I don’t know if our district is any tougher or any easier than another one, but Union and Jenks back-to-back, that’s a chore.”

Enid won its home opener at David Allen last week, beating Putnam City 8-2 behind Kearney’s five-inning, nine-strikeout heroics, but the Plainsmen have held opponents to fewer than three runs only twice, while surrendering an average of nine runs.

Only Kearney (2.00) and Jackson Walker (1.24) have posted ERAs below seven, and the Plainsmen have walked 35 batters compared to 22 strikeouts.

Sarver has given up 17 runs, 12 of them earned, in 6 1/3 innings, a mark that likely will have to improve to stave-off a three-game district losing streak against Union, which is averaging 11 runs per game.

“We just need to go out and play,” Sarver said. “Everybody knows that. I mean, district games are big and all, but it’s just another game. We have to take it day by day. You can’t think too far ahead.”

Enid’s defense, a season-long bugaboo in 2012, continues to nag the Plainsmen early in 2013. In seven games, Enid has made 22 errors.

Mayberry said the warmer weather has given the team more opportunities to tweak its defense on an actual diamond. Jake Walker is slated to move to left field, while Cole Floyd shifts to first base, among other potential shakeups.

“A lot of times you have to regress to progress a little bit,” Mayberry said. “We’ve had to do that some. The medicine doesn’t always taste good.”

Shifts aside, Kearney said the team isn’t panicking.

“Just go hard in practice and do what coach tells you to do,” he said.

The games can be heard on KCRC Radio (1390 AM).

Text Only

Sports

OU to meet Kansas for title
May 25, 2013 1 Photo
Majors beat Putnam City North in late game
May 25, 2013
Chard: EHS made strides in spring football
Beginning his second year at the helm, and with two weeks of spring football practice concluded, Enid head coach Steve Chard believes both he and the team have developed a level of comfort and trust with each other that bodes well for the season ahead.
“We were hoping to see a little more confidence and familiarity with our schemes,” Chard said Friday after the final day of spring practice. “We wanted to see better practice habits. I believe we saw all of that.
“Now that we have been with each other over a year, there’s no guessing games with what they are going to get from me. They know what to expect from the coaching staff. Last year everything was new. The system was new, my style was different.”

May 25, 2013 1 Photo
Murray State successful in first Series game
Murray State’s Colt Pickens drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and reliever Eddie Broll made it stick for two more frames as the NJCAA Division II World Series’ de facto home team won its first-ever game in the tournament, edging Brunswick (N.C.), 2-1 Saturday at David Allen Memorial Ballpark.
Pickens broke a 1-1 tie with a line drive to right that scored Daniel Arthur from third on the second pitch Brunswick reliever Kyle Shields threw. Shields was called for a balk before he threw his pitch in the game, moving Arthur and Keach Ballard to second and third with no outs.

May 25, 2013 1 Photo
Defending champs rally for 4-3 victory
May 25, 2013 1 Photo
Young fans ease Madison's long trip
May 25, 2013 1 Photo
Division II Junior College World Series scoreboard
May 25, 2013
OU headed to softball series
May 25, 2013 1 Photo
Majors bounce back in tournament
May 25, 2013
Wiebling happy to be coaching at Garber
May 25, 2013
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Union challenge for Plainsmen

Site Map

Contact Us