Joel Proksch
Byron Nelson
Baseball practice means much more than batting cages and shagging fly balls. It also means evaluating your performance, picking apart your skills and implementing needed improvements. That’s the type of system head baseball coach Larry Vucan has installed to train his Dragons, and it’s made all of the difference.
Utilizing a system molded during his early coaching days, coach Vucan breaks down performances into analytics providing a clearer path of advancement for players to reach the next level. The strategy is consistently paying off as the Dragons head yet again into the playoffs, this year with a 28-8 (11-2 district) record and an 10-game winning streak.
With a team packed with senior talent and some of the top-ranked pitchers in the area, the Dragons are ready to take on any challenge.
CALCULATING SUCCESS
Before joining Southlake Carroll as an assistant baseball coach, Vucan was the head coach for Franklin High School in El Paso. Aspiring to sharpen his players’ ball game, Vucan wanted to implement a strategic evaluation system that coulday off for their program in the long run.
“I wanted to find a way to tally their strengths and mistakes, calculate it and put it into a percentage system that kids could see and learn from,” coach Vucan says. “I needed to develop a system where I could boil their performance down to one number.”
Asking PE and math teachers for their brightest minds in class, coach Vucan recruited seven students to evaluate his players and point out errors and improvement areas in exchange for PE credit. Breaking them up between different sections in the outfield and infield, coach Vucan trained them to record base running, swinging and fielding errors, then tally up the numbers on a spreadsheet to calculate their ranking. He would then post the results in the dugout the following week for players to review.
“Players walked up to the pit to see where they rank in terms of fielding, hitting percentages — basically everything you can think of,” coach Vucan says. “Once they have all of that information, they know which areas they need to work and improve in. Nothing is a surprise to anyone. They all know where they’re at every week.”
That system not only propelled the Franklin Cougars to first place in district rankings but also took them to multiple state playoff appearances between 2002 and 2010. When Vucan became head coach at Carroll in 2016, he knew he wanted to replicate that system for the Dragons as well.
“From watching how coach Larry Hughes did it to becoming head coach myself, I was able to learn and reimagine where I wanted to take the program,” coach Vucan says. “Once we were able to get the right people on the field, that’s when it really took off.”
While their 2017 season ended in a 2-3 loss against eventual state champions Deer Park, looking ahead helped set the Dragons up for success in 2018. Using the stats he recorded in the spring, coach Vucan developed individual evaluations for each player that served as a blueprint for where they needed to take their game.
“We would have exit meetings with our players at the end of the spring and set up what their work was going to look like in the fall,” coach Vucan says. “By the time we broke for Christmas, they would know exactly what they had to work on in order to compete hard and make a difference for us.”
Practicing smarter and harder paid off for the Dragons with a 7-2 state championship win in 2018, followed by a second consecutive state win 17-0 in 2019. As the Dragons looked ahead, they were prepared to make 2020 their most successful season yet.
LEARNING THROUGH THEIR LOSSES
While Southlake Carroll started strong with a 12-2 overall record and a first-place ranking in district, the Dragons’ 2020 season ended early after the University Interscholastic League canceled all spring sports. The 19 seniors graduating from the program left Southlake Carroll with a younger, less experienced team in its place.
The following season, the upstart Dragons got off to a sluggish 1-7 start against tough competition from the likes of perennial contenders in Lake Travis, Prosper and Rockwall-Heath.
“We had a very young team in 2021, and we expected to struggle with it,” coach Vucan says. “We weren’t expected to do a whole lot.”
Carroll gained a lot of on-field and internal experience and rebounded to a 29-18 overall record and a 10-2 district record, shutting tough opponents out of competition like Odessa Permian, El Paso Montwood and Marcus. It wasn’t until Keller defeated them 6-4 in the regional final that the Dragons’ season came to an end.
“It was heartbreaking to get so close to state and come up short,” senior shortstop Max Reyes says. “I think the team is a little bit battle-hardened from the whole experience.”
Even though the season’s end brought disappointment, coach Vucan says that 2021 wasn’t a complete loss. In fact, he feels it better prepared the Dragons going into 2022.
“It was a good year of experience for these young guys,” he says. “They learned a lot coming up that short in game three against Keller.”
That’s how junior third baseman Ben Tryon views the 2021 season — as a learning opportunity.
“We were the underdogs last year,” Ben says. “We came up short in a few areas, but we kind of needed some of our losses. It taught us a lot about our team and the things we needed to fix if we were going to make a long run at the playoffs.”
POWERHOUSE PITCHERS & SENIOR STARS
Enter the ’22 season with a senior-laden roster that is poised for playoff contention. Before a single player’s cleats stepped onto the field, the Dragons were ranked the No. 1 high school baseball team in the state by multiple outlets. Its players received individual recognitions as well, with 18 Dragons making the “Perfect Game And Rawlings’” All-American and All-Region teams. With 26 seniors and 12 underclassmen, this is one of Carroll’s most experienced rosters of Vucan’s tenure.
But the senior experience isn’t all that stands out on the Dragon Baseball team — it’s also the exemplary pitching staff. Comprised of seniors Griffin Herring (LSU), Owen Proksch (Duke) and Tyler White (Texas A&M), these powerhouse pitchers have contributed over 130 strikeouts throughout the season. Their earned run averages are also among the top 20 in the area, with Griffin topping the list with a 0.41 ERA.
“Our biggest asset on the team is easily our pitching,” Max says. “We have some of the best pitchers in the state. They definitely get the job done.”
Between its lightning-fast pitchers and aggressive offense scoring 194 runs during the regular season, Carroll is a formidable force heading into the postseason.
“What’s important is that this group of young guys is continuing to progress each week,” coach Vucan says. “They’re getting bigger and stronger. They’re developing confidence. They’re playing the game fast and hard — and that’s the way we need them to.”
POISED FOR THE POSTSEASON
The Dragons came into the 2022 season swinging right out of the gate, winning 14-3 and 7-0 in their first two out-of-state games against Chaparral and JSerra Catholic High School. They continued to excel in district contests, winning 10-0 against Byron Nelson and Keller Central and 12-0 against Timber Creek. And after finishing their regular season with a 10-0 win against Fossil Ridge, the Dragons are first in the district with an 11-2 record. What's more, they are peaking at the right time, heading into the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak.
Yet coach Vucan emphasizes the importance of never becoming complacent. He tells his players all the time that the only ranking that really matters is in June, and the most important game on the way there is the next one.
“We know as a team that we can and will make it to Round Rock, but we’re also figuring out we won’t make it there if that’s all we’re focused on,” Owen says. “Staying focused on the day-to-day is the most important thing for us right now.”
While many teams have their number, Carroll also has theirs. The only two district losses they sustained this season were both from Keller, the same team that dethroned them last year — and the Dragons are eager for a rematch.
“We just want to get back at them,” Ben says. “Knowing that we could face them again kind of adds some fuel to the fire.”
Regardless of how the playoffs pan out, coach Vucan doesn’t want his players to lose their competitive edge. Even if the season doesn’t go their way, their shortcomings can feed into next year — just like it has for every season before.
“You have to fail before you can succeed,” coach Vucan states. “The most important part is finding out who your sluggers are — who the guys who have grit and tenacity are. Because those are the guys who are going to be on the field and perform when it matters.”
Whether this season’s playoffs produce another state championship trophy or not, the Dragons rise and fall together. That’s what being a team means to each of them.
“We don’t want to win for ourselves,” senior catcher Clark Springs says. “We want to win for the guys playing next to us out on that field, the guys cheering us on from the dugout. We go through so much together as a team that it turns into a family, and everyone wants to see everyone else succeed. That is our strongest asset. That’s what makes us Dragons.”