Spotlight on ...

By LORI DANN

ldann@star-telegram.com

When Southlake Carroll's Josh Rake reached third base after his 11th hit of the postseason Friday against Flower Mound, coach Larry Hughes pulled his No. 8 hitter aside for a quick chat.

"I told him, 'The way you're hitting, I probably ought to put you in the No. 4 hole, but I'm not changing anything. You're doing too good where you are,' " Hughes said.

So are the Dragons.

Carroll has won 10 of its 11 playoff games to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2002.

A big reason for the success is the Dragons' offense, which has consistently produced clutch hits, leading to seven one-run victories in the playoffs.

The most consistent hitter has been Rake, a junior second baseman who is batting a team-best .393 in the postseason, including .364 with runners in scoring position. That follows a regular season in which he posted a .351 average, the third-highest on the team, while hitting in the eighth and ninth spots in the order.

"Really, one through nine, there's not an easy out in our lineup," Hughes said. "Josh is a pretty aggressive, line-drive type hitter and he's gotten a lot of big hits for us this year. He's really come up big for us in the playoffs."

Rake, whose twin brother Matt plays left field for the Dragons when Ethan Cunningham pitches, also led Carroll's football team with six interceptions last season as a cornerback.

With the way the postseason has gone, do you ever wish you could move to the middle of the lineup? That's Coach Hughes' decision and I guess he likes me where I am, which is fine. By being at the bottom of the order, if I get on base, then the top of the order can bring me in so it works out.

Which hits have been the biggest for you personally? I had a hit in a tight game against Keller that helped us win. In the first game of the Amarillo series their guy had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning and I was the first player to get a hit. We were tied going into the bottom of the seventh and I got another hit and ended up scoring [in a 3-2 victory]. Then last Thursday I was 3-for-3 and scored the first run [in a 14-4 rout of Flower Mound].

How is it having your twin brother on the team, too? Are you guys pretty competitive? We started playing baseball together when we were 3 years old and football in the third or fourth grade, and we've always been on the same team. We're pretty competitive, but we're not really competing with each other much. I just like to see him do well. When he's out there, I'm his No. 1 fan.

You've experienced a lot of success in football. Does that carry over to baseball? I guess the mentality of winning does. The confidence stays with you.

How would it feel to pair a baseball state championship with the football state title you won? I was on the state championship team my sophomore year but I didn't play that much. I didn't play in the state championship game. To be starting on a state championship team would be great.

You guys must be pretty confident after losing only one game in the playoffs, right? We're confident, but we're not overconfident. We've won a lot of close games. Our pitchers are throwing extremely well and we're hitting the ball well, plus our errors are a lot lower than other teams. We've been able to take advantage of their mistakes because we put the ball in play a lot. If we keep doing that, I think we have a good chance.

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