Disposing of first-round opponent Hebron in a two-game sweep, which included surviving a comeback attempt by the Hawks in Game 1, the Dragons (14-17) showed poise and good execution in moving on to the next round.
However, Carroll now faces a huge obstacle in the area round, taking on Arlington Martin (29-3), a team ranked No. 5 in the state by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association, in a best-of-three series scheduled to begin Thursday when the Dragons hosted the Warriors.
Although Carroll coach Larry Hughes knows his team will be viewed as underdogs in this series, the Dragons skipper said there’s no reason to change what’s worked for the team thus far.
"We’ll play it like any other opponent," said Hughes, whose team travels to Martin at 7:30 tonight for Game 2 and will play Game 3 at 7 p.m. Saturday, if necessary, at Colleyville Heritage. "We’re trying to play good baseball.
"We know they’re a top-ranked team in the state and that they went pretty far last year," he said. "We know it’s a pretty big challenge. We just have to play our best game and not make a lot of mistakes."
It would be easy to view Carroll’s matchup with the Warriors as a daunting task. Martin’s potent offense is the stuff of high school baseball lore. With hitting machines such as Jordan Imhoff (.354 batting average, 39 RBI, 8 home runs), Jantzen Witte (.468, 37 RBI, 6 HR) and Brian Ragira (.390, 26 RBI, 5 HR), players who spearheaded a team that hit .358 for the regular season, the Warriors have put fear in the heart of many a pitching staff this spring.
It doesn’t end there. Martin’s pitchers aren’t half bad, either, boasting a collective ERA of 1.77. Stewart Pearson (7-0, 0.30 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched) leads the way for the Warriors on the mound, while Kevin Winter (6-0, 1.11 ERA) and Shane Griffin (7-1, 2.28 ERA) give the team a deep rotation.
"They have five guys with ERAs that are two or under," Hughes said. "Everyone talks about their offense, but they have real strong pitchers that don’t give up many runs. They have lefties and righties, so they mix it up against other teams’ lineups."
Although challenging, Carroll must generate timely hits against a tough opponent. The Dragons pitching staff, which has been solid most of the year, must also be on its game against Martin, while fielding must be clean as well.
"You can’t give them anything, you have to make them earn it," Hughes said. "They’re going to get their hits, so you just can’t give up walks or errors. If we can do that like we did in the Hebron series, I think we can be successful."
As has been the case throughout the season, Carroll kept its errors to a minimum against Hebron (18-13). The good fielding helped the Dragons in a close 7-6 victory over the Hawks in Game 1, as Ethan Cunningham (8-2) earned the victory.
While Ross Stripling (9-0) picked up a much easier win in a 7-1 decision in Game 2, the tightness of Game 1 was a good test to initiate Carroll into the postseason. With the Dragons scoring five runs in the second inning to take a 5-2 lead, then extending that to 7-3 in the fourth, the Hawks rallied by scoring three more times over the next two innings to cut the deficit to one heading into the seventh.
However, Tanner Toal came in to close out the game, earning his fourth save.
"We showed that we could get out of big jams," Hughes said. "We held the lead."
The confidence boost the win provided could prove beneficial against Martin’s menacing offense. Having already won some close games during the regular season, the Dragons have now shown that they could keep composure and look sharp even in the most pressure-packed time of the year: the playoffs.
The groove Carroll finds itself in and the knowledge that they have won against other quality teams that technically includes (but does not count as a win because of a mandated forfeiture due to an ineligible player) the top-ranked team in the state in Plano West (28-0) could give the Dragons the confidence they need facing Martin.
"We’ve played 31 games and we’ve seen a lot of tough teams," Hughes said. "I definitely think we’re prepared.
"Seeing them when we’re playing well ... you never know, it could be a real catalyst."