It’s been a season of ups and downs for first year Bryan County baseball coach Kyle Farmer and his team. One of the ups, Farmer said, has been the Ennis brothers, Cooper and Gunner, who have played a key role in getting the Redskins into the Class A-DII state playoffs.
“The Ennis brothers are more than just athletes,” Farmer said. “They’re baseball players. The way they carry themselves. The way they compete.
“I really wish I would have had Cooper for more than one year,” Farmer said. “He’s a tough competitor. He’s a baseball guy and he plays the game the right way. I think that’s the greatest compliment you can receive in the game of baseball: that he carries himself and plays the game the right way.”
Cooper, now a senior, has been rock solid at shortstop and on the mound. He has used this season to establish his own identity in emerging from the shadow of older brother Tanner.
Tanner Ennis, finishing his first year at Georgia Military College, is one of the best athletes to ever come through Bryan County High School and Cooper, a year behind, has had to take second billing to his older sibling.
That has changed this season as fans are getting to see a Cooper many didn’t know existed.
“I was just following in his footsteps, one behind him,” Cooper said of playing with Tanner dating back to rec ball. “It was pretty hard (dealing with expectations) but I feel pretty good right now about what I’m doing. I just got to keep proving.
“I got to play with Tanner for two years and it was great. And now it’s great to be able to play with Gunner this year. I’m not surprised he’s starting. He’s a good ball player.”
Cooper is a three-year starter after missing his freshman year. He got hit by a truck two days after Christmas and suffered a broken femur.
“I was at a friend’s house walking in the road,” Cooper said with a shrug. “Just something that happened.”
Entering the final week of the regular season Cooper was hitting .310 with 15 RBI and 18 runs scored. He has a team high three triples and has three doubles among his 26 hits. As a pitcher he’s 3-1 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.2036 WHIP, striking out 54 and walking only 10 in 55.2 innings.
As a pitcher, Cooper had the best game of his career last Friday when he beat Screven County, 4-2, in eight innings thanks to a three RBI night by fellow senior AJ Thomas.
And then there’s Gunner who at 6-foot looks like he’s going to be the biggest of Jeffrey and Blaine Ennis’s sons.
Unlike Cooper he’s escaped some of the glare of the spotlight as he has had the benefit of being four years behind Tanner. The only expectations he’s dealing with are those which are self-imposed.
“I’m not like Tanner, I’m not like Cooper,” Gunner said. “I’m myself.
“It’s fun playing with Cooper,” Gunner said. “I’ve never played with either of my brothers before and I’m enjoying it.”
Gunner leads the team in hitting at .386 and RBI with 20. He and Thomas each have 27 hits, one more than Cooper and five more than sophomore Eli Koskela. In 13 innings on the mound Gunner has a 2.15 ERA, a 1.500 WHIP while posting 16 strikeouts and giving up five walks.
Gunner was the backup quarterback in football last fall—Cooper was a running back who was effective in short yardage situations--and will likely be the starter this fall but baseball is his sport, he said. Both wrestled but Gunner said he will be playing basketball next winter.
“My heart is with baseball,” Gunner said. “I’ve worked so hard all my life at baseball.”
“Gunner has come on and done a great job,” Farmer said. “We’ve put him in a leadership role as a freshman but he’s been able to answer the call. He’s got a lot of room to grow and mature.
“He’s been successful for us and I’m excited to be able to coach him for four years and see him develop into a leader of the program.”
The three brothers share a lot of the same traits: they’re quiet, soft-spoken, excellent teammates and there’s no hyperbole--they just go out and take care of business.