Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dragons Move One Win Away From State

Carroll third baseman Kenny Hill had an RBI double in the 2-0 victory against Martin on Thursday night.

FORT WORTH – Thursday evening at TCU, the Carroll Dragons and Martin Warriors met in Game 2 of the Class 5A Region I Final series. After losing the series opener, the Dragons sent Texas A&M-bound Greg Maisto to the mound to save the Dragons’ season. Maisto was nothing short of incredible, and led the Dragons to a 2-0 Game 2 victory. Maisto threw a complete game one-hitter on 109 pitches, silencing the explosive Martin offense. Maisto had six strikeouts walked three. After the game, Maisto said, “I was confident. I knew I had my stuff tonight. The two-seam was really working tonight. Staying alive in the playoffs is a great feeling.”

The victory moved the Dragons to 7-0 in playoff elimination games.

On the offensive side, the scoring started early for the Dragons. After a lead off walk by Chris Altimont and a sacrifice bunt by Kansas State signee Ben Sego, junior third basemen Kenny Hill stepped in. On the first pitch, Hill ripped a double that one hopped the left-center field wall, scoring Altimont form second base.  

“It was a fastball, pretty much right down the middle, a little up,” Hill said. “I knew I had to do something tonight after going 0-for-3 last night.  It felt great.”

The Dragons would not score again until the bottom of the sixth inning.  Hill led off the inning off with a walk, advanced to second on another sacrifice bunt, this time by the senior designated hitter Nick Arst.  Hill then stole third base on the third pitch with center fielder Tyler Barnes hitting.  With a 2-2 count, Barnes hit a deep sacrifice fly to the left fielder, which scored Hill from third.  Barnes is 4-fo-5 in series. Talking about what has changed lately, Barnes said, “I’ve just had an aggressive approach at the plate, I’m seeing the ball great.”

The deciding Game 3 is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at TCU’s Lupton Stadium. The winner advances to the Class 5A State Tournament next Friday in Round Rock. When asked about what he is looking forward to most about Saturday, Hill said, “Winning another one.  We still want more.”

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