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Stacked with talent and depth, the Carroll baseball pitching staff has shown they can be dominant at times. Producing runs is no easy task when facing the Dragons, who as a team boasted a 1.56 ERA heading into the final games of the regular season.
Led by two Division I commits in senior left-handers Owen Proksch (Duke) and Griffin Herring (LSU), Carroll’s pitching can take over games when they’re on. Other than Proksch (0.99 ERA, 3-1, 50 strikeouts) and Herring (0.43, 4-1, 48 SO), Tyler White (4-1), Nathan Rusher (1.69 ERA), Dominic Gill (3 saves, 0 ERA) and Zach Coletti (17 SO in 16 innings) have shown they can carry the load when taking the mound as well.
“Those are the guys that really will help us once the postseason comes,” says Larry Vucan, Carroll baseball head coach. “I think we have enough depth in arms, we have enough matchups with righty-lefty, that we can match up well in playoff games.”
With plenty of veteran experience, the Dragons' offense is no slouch either. Senior infielder Ethan Mendoza leads the team in batting average (.379), hits (22) and doubles (seven). Proksch has the most home runs (four) and is second in runs batted in (13), trailing only senior catcher Clark Springs (14). Vucan touted Springs (.375 average, .484 on-base percentage, .987 fielding percentage) as possibly the best catcher in the state. Where Vucan would like to see the team improve is in their consistency at the plate.
“To be a threat each inning is something that we're still working on,” says Vucan. “We need to step up and be a little nastier.”
SEASON UPDATE
It’s nearly a total role reversal from last year when a young Carroll baseball team with no returning starters wasn’t expected to go far in 2021. Green in the beginning, the Dragons grew up as the season progressed and fell one inning short of a return to the state tournament in Round Rock.
This year, a more experienced Carroll team had lofty expectations coming in, but has had to deal with the pressure of having targets on their backs and playing consistently up to its potential.
Starting off ranked No. 1 among Class 6A teams in the state, some non-district losses and up-and-down play dropped the Dragons in the polls. But Carroll coach Larry Vucan wants his players to ignore that and focus on being their best now so that it will pay off later.
“The only rankings that matter are in June,” says Vucan, whose Dragons were 19-8 overall, 6-2 in district heading into the final four games.
Carroll had a nice string of nine wins heading into district, then defeated a solid Byron Nelson team twice to start District 4-6A competition. However, Keller took two wins in a row in their district match-ups in late March, fueling the teams’ growing rivalry. The Indians defeated Carroll in the Region I final game to end the Dragons’ season in 2021.
“They've gotten our number lately,” Vucan says. “Nobody usually has Southlake's number over a two-year span. But hopefully, we'll see them again once we get into [the playoffs], and we can take care of business.”