BAY MINETTE, Ala. – Morning baseball may not agree with the Enid Plainsmen but a few more Sunday outings may be on the horizon.

Making a quick turnaround after playing a pair of games Monday afternoon in the Alabama-based Gulf Shores Classic, the Plainsmen made a 90-minute trip Tuesday to Bay Minette, Ala., for a 10 a.m. first-pitch at Baldwin County High School to take on Brookwood High School, falling 2-0 to the Panthers. The loss, Enid’s second in three games, knocks the Plainsmen out of contention for the semifinal round of the tournament.

It was a rough start against Brookwood for the Plainsmen and their starter, Tanner Leon. Making his first start of the season following two relief appearances in which he had been tagged for three earned runs, Leon could not locate the plate.

Pitching to lead-off hitter – and Brookwood’s starting pitcher – Josh Winningham, Leon put Winningham on base by hitting him with a pitch. Leon then loaded the bases with a walk and another hit batter.

It didn’t get any better for the junior lefty as he balked in a run and then hit the next batter to re-load the bases. That was the end of the day for Leon as he exited with the bases loaded, having hit three batters and recording no outs.

Enid head coach James Peoples brought in freshman Garrett Sunday in relief of Leon. Sunday proceeded to get the Plainsmen out of a tough jam by retiring the next three batters in order on a pop out, strikeout and fly ball out.

Sunday would finish the game, going six innings, striking out five hitters, allowing one run and only three hits, likely earning himself a spot in the Plainsmen’s starting rotation.

“As a freshman, he really stepped up,” Enid head coach James Peoples said.

“He kept their hitters off balance and really gave us some quality innings. He’s done a real good job coming out of the bullpen and now we’re going to look at giving him a start.”

The Plainsmen had their opportunities to score, but were not able to push a run across against Brookwood lefty Winningham, who pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout, recording 10 strikeouts along the way.

Enid’s best scoring opportunity occurred in the third-inning when senior Joe Black singled and senior Dillon Walker followed with a base hit, advancing Black to third base. A walk to Lawson King loaded the bases with one out. Following a Blake Ferguson strikeout, Black attempted a steal of home but was thrown out, ending the threat with Enid still trailing 1-0.

“We thought it (attempting to steal home) would give us a spark as our offense was striggling.” People said.

It was the second consecutive game Enid attempted a steal of home but with the same result though in this instance it appeared Winningham may have altered his delivery to the plate and balked, but the officiating crew did not see it that way.

“The pitcher definitely balked,” Peoples said. “He started and stopped his delivery. The runner was even safe at home but they called him out.”

Peoples also expressed frustration with the way the game was called, particularly with the strike zone.

“It was an expanding strike zone for them and was a tough zone for us,” Peoples said. “They were calling strikes on pitches 16 inches outside of the strike zone. If we played them (Brookwood) in Oklahoma at David Allen we would beat them 10 out of 10 times.”

Enid again threatened in the fifth-inning after a lead-off walk, Enid’s first lead-off runner of the game. Curtis Shelton came in as a courtesy runner and stole second base. After Joe Black, who had two hits in the contest, struck out, the Panthers elected to intentionally walk Dillon Walker with two out, choosing to pitch to cleanup hitter Lawson King who was retired on a long fly ball to end the inning.

Brookwood got its first hit of the game in its half of the fifth inning when Jake Bush hit a double into the right-centerfield gap. Chris Allen followed with another double, scoring Bush to give Brookwood a 2-0 lead. Sunday, however, settled down and retired the side to get out of further trouble.

Enid went quietly in the sixth and Winningham struck out the side in the seventh, interrupted only by a walk to Haden Houska, as Brookwood (8-5) finished off the 2-0 victory over Enid (4-4).

“We’re a young team,” Peoples said about his team’s performance so far in the tournament. “Our kids played really hard. We’re hoping to play our best ball in April and I think we are going to get there. We have some growing up to do and to mature as a team.”

The Plainsmen finish play in the Gulf Shores Classic today at 12:30 p.m. against Catholic, Ala., in a game that can be heard on KCRC (1390 AM). The Plainsmen now have dropped two out of three in the tournament after opening with a 13-2 victory over Sweetwater, Ala., and a 7-6 loss to Baldwin on Monday.