Now, as the Dragons begin their regional quarterfinal series with Coppell, the goal is to carry the momentum gained by upsetting Martin into this round of the playoffs.
That also creates the next question: Can Carroll slay two giants in a row?
"They’re pretty tough. They’re very similar to [Arlington Martin]," Dragons baseball coach Larry Hughes said of Coppell, the team ranked No. 9 in the state by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association and the one that knocked Carroll out of this round of the playoffs in three games last year. "We went to a Game 3 and it ended up a one-run game last year. It’ll be a very similar battle to this.
"If you can come out and really play real well and win [against a team like Martin], it does a lot for your confidence," he said. "I would certainly rather do this going into playing Coppell than either winning by beating a weaker team or winning in the back-door type of thing."
The Dragons (16-17) were scheduled to begin Game 1 of their best-of-three series on Thursday at Coppell (30-5). Game 2 is at 4:30 this afternoon at Carroll Senior High, while Game 3, if necessary, is 1 p.m. Saturday at Colleyville Heritage.
The Cowboys, who disposed of Carroll and advanced to the regional semifinals before losing to Midland Lee last year, bring a lot of weapons with them this time around as well. Hitting .338 as a team, Coppell is led by four powerful hitters: Infielder Austin Elkins (.459, 23 RBI, 8 home runs), shortstop Chad Kettler (.396, 28 RBI, 4 HR), catcher/third baseman Jonathan Walsh (.350, 30 RBI, 3 HR) and outfielder Andy Pratt (.288, 29 RBI, 4 HR).
Speed on the bases is also a concern for Coppell’s opponents, as the Cowboys have six players with 10 or more stolen bases. D.J. Garber leads the team with 16.
On the mound, the Cowboys’ top hurlers include ace Zak Hermans (7-1, 0.57 ERA, 63 strikeouts), Danny Malone (5-0, 1.17 ERA) and Matt Reynolds (5-0, 1.75 ERA).
Although Coppell provides another sizable playoff challenge, the Dragons have developed a new level of confidence and carry a heavy helping of momentum into their series with the Cowboys. It all started with an impressive comeback over Martin in Game 1 that set the tone for the rest of the series.
After trailing 7-0 in the fourth and 8-3 in the sixth inning, Carroll rallied with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull even with the Warriors at 8-apiece. The Dragons won on a suicide squeeze bunt with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth for a 9-8 victory.
"I think that was the first squeeze that we had all year," said Hughes, referring to the bunt laid down by Carroll outfielder Shaun McPeters. "You work on those things and you just hope that when the time comes that you need it, you can execute it. And we did."
In Game 2 at Martin, the Dragons offense came alive early, while Carroll pitcher Ross Stripling cooled the Warriors’ usually red-hot bats. Facing a team with a .358 batting average and with four power hitters combining for 124 RBI and 20 home runs, Stripling kept the Warriors hitless through the first 5 1/3 innings. The eventual 9-1 route gave the Dragons the series sweep.
"Usually I don’t get nervous, but that was pretty much the most nervous I’ve been," said Stripling, who pitched a two-hit complete game. "Getting the run support definitely calmed my nerves a lot.
"I felt like I was throwing my fastball well all night. They couldn’t really get a bead on it."
Cunningham, who didn’t have his best stuff as the starting pitcher in Game 1, more than made up for it with his bat in both games. Cunningham hit a two-run home run in Game 1 that started the scoring in Carroll’s five-run sixth. In Game 2, Cunningham hit another two-run homer early and a solo shot in the seventh to help the Dragons cruise.
McPeters and catcher Andrew LaCombe also hit two-run shots early in Game 2 for Carroll, as the Dragons built a 6-0 lead by the third inning.
"We had tons of confidence coming into [Game 2]," Cunningham said. "We knew Arlington Martin was an amazing team coming in, but we knew we could beat them.
"We think we put ourselves on the map with this one."
Hughes said winning the series over Martin and doing it as dramatically and dominantly as they did gives the team a whole new outlook on what they can accomplish this postseason.
"I think that just shows that we have the kind of team that we can hold our own with the good teams, the top teams in the state," Hughes said. "You talk about wanting to go all the way and all that ... this could catapult us a long way."