Southlake Carroll baseball stops Arlington Martin

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

Thursday night marked the seventh time Southlake Carroll has faced elimination this postseason and the Dragons found a way to prevail again.

Led by pitcher Greg Maisto, who tossed a complete-game shutout, the Dragons defeated Arlington Martin 2-0 in Game 2 of the best-of-three Class 5A Region I championship series at TCU's Lupton Stadium to force Saturday's deciding Game 3.

"I've never had a team that has won seven elimination games," Carroll coach Larry Hughes said. "They just don't quit, and they have never quit."

Maisto, a Texas A&M recruit, gave up only one hit to the top-ranked team in Texas. The senior lefty struck out six and walked four in a 108-pitch effort.

"It's exactly what I wanted to do, and from the first pitch I was confident," Maisto said. "I just took it one pitch at a time and got it done."

Maisto was threatened only once but was bailed out on a great play by center fielder Tyler Barnes. Martin (35-5) loaded the bases on a pair of walks and by reaching on a throwing error with two outs.

Mitchell Peck drilled a shot over Barnes' head, but the center fielder chased it down and made a basket catch on a dead sprint to end the inning.

The Warriors did not advance another base runner to scoring position again.

"I was just trying to make a big play," Barnes said. "The bases were loaded and I wanted to keep them off the scoreboard."

The Martin student section jeered Carroll's Kenny Hill with "0 for 3!" chants his first time up to bat Thursday. Hill had gone hitless on Wednesday.

He responded by launching the first pitch he saw to the outfield for an RBI double. Hill also scored the second run for Carroll (25-12) when Barnes drove him in on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

"They were talking mess from the beginning of Game 1," Hill said. "Hearing that chant when I came up fueled me. I like that they are chanting me like that."

Jarret Johnson

817-390-7760

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