Published: May 08, 2008 11:46 pm            

Rain continues to plague 6A tourney

What’s the best way to bring rain to Oklahoma? Schedule the Class 6A state baseball tournament.

For the second straight day, rains and wet grounds set the tournament back a day. A year ago, the tournament was delayed three days before starting.

No. 5-ranked Enid (27-10) and No. 4-ranked Yukon (29-7) will try for a third time at 4 p.m. today at Claremore’s Legion Field in a first-round Bracket B game. KCRC Radio (1390 AM) will air the game.

The loser will face the loser of the 1:30 p.m. game, between No. 1 Owasso (31-3) and No. 14 Midwest City (21-13), at 6:30 p.m.

The winners play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with an another elimination game following at 4. The championship game will be at 4 p.m. Monday. If a second championship is needed, it would be played immediately following.

The bracket champion will face the winner of the A bracket for the state title Tuesday at a place and time to be announced.

Enid coach Scott Baugh said his team has been able to deal with adversity all season, noting injuries to regulars Nick Rountree, Zach Gonzalez and Alex Wilson.

“There’s not anything you can do about the weather,’’ Baugh said. “You have to deal with it the best you can. It’s baseball.

“The kids are definitely ready to play, but everybody is in the same boat. It’s not like the other teams have started playing. Everybody is having to sit around. This is not anything new.’’

Reportedly, the fields at Claremore were ready to play but the fields at Bixby — the site of the A bracket — were not.

“They want to keep the two sites on schedule with one another,’’ Baugh said, “to make sure somebody’s pitching doesn’t get ahead of everybody else’s.’’

Left-hander John Dillingham (6-1, 2.52 ERA) will still get the start for the Plainsmen. Baugh expects Yukon to pitch junior Chad James, who did not pitch when the Plainsmen beat the Millers 4-3 in eight innings during the Gladys Winters Tournament March 27.

Baugh said the Plainsmen — if they are still alive — would go home after Saturday’s games and take Sunday off.

“It’s going to help the guys to have Sunday off, but we have to go out and play well (today) and Saturday so we can get there first,’’ Baugh said. “It’s going to be an advantage for us, but we have to take care of business first before we worry about that.’’

Baugh said he is undecided about the rest of the rotation for the tournament. He said he wouldn’t hesitate to use starting pitchers Seth Sturgeon and Tobin Matey-chick in relief against Yukon, if necessary.

The championship game originally was scheduled for Tulsa’s Driller Park Sat-urday. The rainouts have caused a change of plans.

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Assoc-iation has announced if an eastern school is in the finals, it will be in the east. It two western teams reach the finals, the OSSAA said it would work with both schools to secure a site on the west side of the state.