Friday, Jun. 13, 2008

Just Shy of the Title

Dragons’ Miracle Season Comes up Short Vs. Plano West in 5A State Final

By Zach Warner

Staff Writer

At least that’s how it looked with five outs left in last weekend’s Class 5A state championship baseball game.

Instead, Plano West’s dangerous offense had other ideas, scoring three times in the sixth and once more in the seventh to capture a 10-8 victory over Carroll on June 7 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

The Dragons (23-19) fell prey to the Wolves (40-2), the No. 1-ranked team in the state by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association and fourth in the nation by USA Today.

Ironically, Carroll handed Plano West its only regular-season defeat in a game earlier in the year, though the loss didn’t count against the Wolves due to the Dragons forfeiting that win and 10 other victories because of an ineligible player on their roster.

Carroll was oh-so-close to upsetting Plano West one more time, a feat that the surprising Dragons had become accustomed to pulling off against other highly-ranked state and national powers during their postseason run.

"We ran into a team with just a little more firepower in Plano West," said Larry Hughes, Carroll baseball coach. "We played a good game, though. They didn’t take it to us or anything like that. We didn’t give it to them. Both teams played well."

The Dragons found themselves in a 3-0 hole early in the championship game, as an error in the first inning allowed Plano West to score three runs, then extend their lead to 5-1 in the fourth.

But just like so many other times this season, Carroll found a way to come back from a difficult situation, turning things around in the bottom of the fourth. Scoring six runs in the inning, Carroll took a 7-5 lead and looked poised to pull off the same magic that had carried the Dragons further than anyone expected them to go this season.

"I think that just shows the kind of team we’ve been all year," said Hughes, whose team returned just three varsity players from last season and overcame the disappointment of forfeiting 11 games and losing one of its top offensive players to ineligibility midway through the season. "We might get down, but we’ve talked about this all season. ... 'Don’t get down when you’re behind. Just stay in it and keep your head up at the plate.’

"We’ve gotten behind a lot of times, but they just don’t give up," he said.

Carroll batted around in the fourth inning, delivering clutch hits and scoring on three Wolves errors. Starting pitcher Ethan Cunningham and outfielders Ronnie Mitchell and Shaun McPeters drove in runs with well-placed hits.

Plano West answered with scores in each of the next three innings, including three in the sixth to take a 9-7 lead. A Zack Bellenger RBI trimmed Carroll’s deficit to 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth, but a controversial call in the top of the seventh led to the Wolves’ 10th run.

Although Plano West’s Ryan Hughes struck out, the umpires ruled that Carroll catcher Andrew LaCombe trapped the pitch on the ground and allowed Ryan Hughes to run to first base. Larry Hughes argued the call and was ejected, while the runner at first later scored on an RBI.

The dropped strikeout call proved incorrect on the television replay.

The Dragons could not muster another comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh, but the Carroll coach is unsure if the added run and the bad call affected his team.

"You never really know how it will affect you," he said. "But I do know that the mentality of your hitters can be totally different when you’re down one run compared to two runs. ... If they had been trailing by just one run, they may have still gone down 1-2-3 in the inning, you never know."

Carroll came through with big hits several times in the postseason, but few more memorable than one in the Dragons’ 7-1 victory over Houston Bellaire in the 5A state semifinal on June 6. With Bellenger showing bunt, Bellaire brought its right fielder up to the infield to guard against a squeeze play with runners on the corners.

Bellenger instead drove the pitch to right field with no one covering, allowing both runs to score and breaking the game open for Carroll.

Carroll starting pitcher Ross Stripling threw a complete-game gem against Bellaire, holding the Cardinals to just five hits and one score in the first inning. The win allowed Stripling to finish his first and only season on varsity with a 14-0 record.

The victory represented the Dragons 11th win in 12 postseason games, propelling Carroll into the state title game with Plano West.

Having defeated highly-ranked opponents such as Arlington Martin and Coppell earlier in the playoffs, the Dragons felt confident facing the Wolves for the title, Hughes said.

Despite the outcome, Carroll completed a memorable season just two runs shy of a championship.

"We actually won more games in the playoffs than in district," said Hughes, who believes Carroll’s 11 playoff wins is the most in team history. "We extended our season by six weeks. To come out and play as well as we did for that long is pretty hard to do."