Published: July 19, 2008 01:15 am            

Enid AAAs win, advance to today’s championship round

Seth Sturgeon couldn’t have picked a better time to pitch the first no-hitter of his baseball career.

The Enid AAAs right-hander came within a walk of throwing a perfect game in his team’s 6-0 win over Edmond Memorial Friday in the winner’s bracket finals of the AAA zone tournament at David Allen Memorial Ballpark.

The AAAs (30-14) can earn a ticket to next week’s state tournament at Choctaw with a win over Edmond Memorial at 1 p.m. in the championship round. If Edmond wins, a second final will be played immediately following.

The Bulldogs eliminated the Alva Renegades 11-2 in the loser’s bracket finals.

“It feels great,’’ Sturgeon said. “I’m loving it. Everybody was making plays and doing good.’’

Especially center fielder Brett Kenaga, whose diving catch of a tailing fly ball by Jackson White in the fourth was the defensive gem of the day.

“Once Brett made that play,’’ Sturgeon said, “I was feeling like if they’re going to give me that effort, I’m working my butt off to get this done.’’

The AAA’s were ahead 5-0, which allowed Kenaga to take a chance defensively.

“You want to give it you’re all when the pitcher is doing his job and getting outs,’’ Kenaga said. “We had a good lead, so I was telling myself why not go after it. It kind of tailed, and I had to dive for it.’’

“Kenaga made a helleva of a play,’’ Sturgeon said.

Sturgeon lost the perfect game when he walked Preston Harraman on a 3-1 pitch with one out in the fifth.

“It (a perfect game) doesn’t matter,’’ Sturgeon said. “They had beaten us three times this season, so I was just trying to go out and do the job and get the win, which we did.’’

Sturgeon struck out three, but two of those were in the second, when Chase Hudson and Harraman struck out on back-to-back called 3-2 pitches.

“The curve ball pasted the corner, and he (umpire Butch Lingenfelter) gave it to me,’’ Sturgeon said.

Sturgeon had nine outs on ground balls and nine outs on fly balls.

“They didn’t have a very good knowledge of the strike zone,’’ Sturgeon said. “They chased a lot of pitches. I put it where I wanted it and they didn’t hit anything solid. We were making the routine plays.’’

Sturgeon admitted he was thinking about the no-hitter in the seventh when he retired the 2-3-4 hitters in the lineup.

“I was thinking about it, but I knew I had a job to do, so I went out and threw strikes, and it happened,’’ he said.

His teammates did their part by not mentioning the no-hitter, one of the taboos of baseball.

“Everybody kept to themselves,’’ Sturgeon said. “That’s one reason why it happened.’’

Sturgeon had not faced Edmond Memorial in the previous four meetings. He believed that was an advantage for him.

“My fastball had a little bit on it,’’ he said. “The curve ball was breaking. I was putting it right where I wanted it.’’

Sturgeon got all the help he would need in the third when the AAAs scored three times on a solo homer by Kenaga and a two-run shot by Jaxson Johnson. Both went over the left field wall.

Miguel Bertado stole two bases and scored two runs. Kenaga had an RBI single in the third, scoring Seth Floyd. Dylan Nave drove in Bertado with a two-out single in the fifth.

“This is how we had things planned out,’’ said Enid coach Scott Baugh, whose team beat Alva 7-2 in the first round Thursday. “I don’t think you could have drawn it better on the chalk board. We did everything right. I can’t think of anybody who didn’t give a good effort.’’

Especially Sturgeon, whose gem didn’t surprise his coach. Sturgeon beat Yukon in the state high school tournament last spring.

“He’s been in these type of games before so pressure of it doesn’t bother him a lot,’’ Baugh said.

ED. MEMORIAL 11, ALVA 2

White’s three-run homer and two-RBI singles by Matt Morgan and Hudson were the big blows in Edmond Memorial’s 10-run first inning. Matt Day had two singles and a double for Alva.