Baseball

"We feel good going into the playoffs," said Hughes, whose Dragons (12-17), the No. 2 seed in 5-5A, play the Hawks, the No. 3 seed out of 6-5A. "You take away the forfeit situation and we won 23 of 29 games. That’s pretty good, solid baseball.

"We played good competition every game," he said. "I don’t think we played anybody weak all year."

Despite fielding just three returners and having its share of youth and inexperience on the team, Carroll entered district with a 10-3 record and won its first seven district games. However, the Dragons were found to have unknowingly used an ineligible player through the first 14 games, which cost the team all its wins prior to district and its first 5-5A contest, a win over Keller Central.

But instead of letting the disappointment of the forfeitures and the loss of a star player slow them down, Carroll finished the season winning six of its final seven games to enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.

Now, Hughes expects the Dragons to continue playing at the same level as what got them to this point. He also expects a good match-up with a Hawks team that mirrors Carroll in some ways.

"They’re a pretty scrappy team," said Hughes, whose team will play Game 2 at Hebron at noon Saturday and follow with a Game 3, if necessary, 30 minutes later. "They don’t have any big, dominant stars. They’ve got solid players that play good baseball.

"They are coming out of a good, tough district, and that always helps. Both our teams are close to the same scenario."

Offensively, Hebron will rely on the run-producing ability of Michael Putman (.348, 20 RBI) and Patrick Kocher (.333, 19 RBI), as well as the power of Ryan Payne (team-leading five home runs). The Dragons will attempt to counter with the solid hitting of Will Watson (.441, 16 RBI) and the all-around offense and long-ball capability of Tanner Toal (.382, 31 RBI, 7 home runs), as well as timely hits by several other players.

Pitching will be the biggest key, Hughes said. Carroll’s top-two rotation of Ethan Cunningham (7-2, 1.62 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitched) and Ross Stripling (8-0, 2.04 ERA, 111 strikeouts in 65.1 innings) will try to best the Hawks’ top two starters in Ben Neyen (6-2, 2.23 ERA, 56 K in 47 innings) and Ryan Angus (5-3, 2.48 ERA, 60 K in 53.2 innings).

"It’s just going to come down to who’s pitching better, who’s doing a better job on the mound," Hughes said. "I think our staffs are pretty similar in their top two and our top two. ... It really depends on who rises to the occasion."

Hughes said that finishing first in district doesn’t matter at this point. It was a goal because winning district would allow Carroll to avoid the possibility of facing Arlington Martin (27-3) and Coppell (26-5), two teams ranked in the top 10 in the state. However, Hughes wants his team to be ready if they do indeed end up being matched up with either team early in the postseason.

"They are good teams, and you’re going to have to play them at some point if you’re going to get far," he said. "So it’s really not that big a deal.

"I told them now that it doesn’t matter if you’re [seeded] No. 1, 2, 3 or 4, you’re just in a bracket playing for the state championship. ... We have a chance to compete for our overall goal."

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