The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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  • Enid's Blake Ferguson takes a pitch inside during the Plainsmen's game against Edmond Memorial at Stillwater 's Couch Park. (Staff Photo by Lee Coleman)

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April 16, 2011

Plainsmen fall to Bulldogs again

By Lee Coleman, Staff Writer Enid News & Eagle

STILLWATER — — Enid Plainsmen baseball team had a good opportunity on Saturday to finish in third place of the Stillwater Invitational tournament.

All they had to do was to beat Edmond Memorial in a rematch from the opening round of the tournament when the Bulldogs escaped with a 4-2 win.

As big a confidence booster as it would have been, Enid missed out and lost 8-3 to finish fourth.

Plagued by some recurring problems that have persisted in 2011, the question now has to center on what has happened to the Plainsmen.

Since a 9-8 win March 29 against the Oklahoma City Broncos to even the season record at 7-7, Enid (10-15) has gone 3-8 and have dropped to 20th in the Class 6A rankings, a dubious place to be with nine games left and the regional playoffs looming large on the horizon.

Against Edmond Memorial, the old nemeses’ of bad base-running decisions and the lack of clutch hitting came back to haunt the Plainsmen on Saturday.

“We gave up 15 hits but we got 10 of our own.We have to find a way to get the base hit with runners in scoring position,” Enid coach James Peoples said. “We haven’t figured that out all year. Hopefully, somebody will step up when we have runners on but it didn’t happen today.”

In the first inning, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Weston Tranckino home run. In the bottom of the third, Enid scored all three of its runs to enjoy a 3-2 lead.

With one out, junior Haden Houska singled and senior Christian Rodriguez reached on an error by the Bulldogs shortstop. Senior captain Dillon Walker (3-for-3 on the day) walked and junior Lawson King drove in the first run on a single, but Rodriguez was gunned down at the plate trying to score.

Senior Joe Black came to the plate and doubled, driving in two runs before getting caught in a rundown between second and third that ended the Enid threat.

“We made some base-running mistakes today,” Peoples said. “Stuff like that should not happen. Some older kids didn’t run the bases correctly today and it cost us.”

King tried to settle down on the mound for Enid, but had some trouble with his control, hitting three Bulldogs hitters on the day. In the fifth, Edmond Memorial parlayed three singles and a double into two runs and pushed out front 4-3. In the sixth, the Bulldogs picked up four more hits and two runs to move out to a 6-3 edge.

In the seventh, freshman Jake Walker replaced King and gave up two runs on three hits, a wild pitch and two walks for the final 8-3 margin of victory for the Bulldogs (15-14).

“We have to stay positive like we’ve been all year,” Peoples said. “The kids are pretty resilient and I have all kinds of faith in them to step up and be ready to play.

“We have Woodward coming in on Monday. We have to battle back and fight back. The kids come to the yard and they have been competing all year. We need to bounce back and get that one on Monday.

“We didn’t show up the last time we played them. Hopefully, our guys will come to the yard on Monday ready to go and take care of business.”

After Monday’s game against Woodward, Enid will face 7th-ranked Yukon at 5 p.m. Thursday  and top-ranked Broken Arrow at 5:30 p.m. Friday at David Allen Memorial Ballpark. On Saturday, Enid will hit the road for a doubleheader against Lawton Eisenhower, starting at 1 p.m.

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