Struggling Dragons look to improve on offense

The first half of district competition has not gone as planned for the Carroll baseball team, but coach Larry Hughes said that he is optimistic that his team can get things back on track and hopefully make a run at a postseason berth.

The Dragons split with first-place Euless Trinity last week, winning 7-2 last Tuesday and losing 2-1 on Friday, and will square off with Colleyville Heritage in both games this coming week.

“They are a solid team and we always play close games,” Hughes said of the Panthers. “It's just going to be more of what we've had. We've had several close games, one-run games, and it's probably going to be about the same.”

Carroll will take on Colleyville Heritage at 7 p.m. on Friday in Southlake.

The split with the Trojans last week put Carroll at 2-4 in district competition, and Hughes said it was a pretty solid effort against Trinity.

“We split the the series,” Hughes said. “The first game we won, and then in the second game, it was a passed ball that they scored on. We ran well in both games and had some very good RBI. We actually did a good job hitting in the second game. We just didn't get the big hits we needed.”

Hughes said that he did have a couple of standout performances in the games against Trinity, as well.

“Our two pitchers, Kevin Cramer and Matthew Canterino, both did an outstanding job,” Hughes said.

At the midway point of the district season, Hughes said that his team has left some things to be desired on the field, but was quick to add that there is still time to correct those things before the postseason rolls around.

“We've played half of our district games, and we are 2-4,” Hughes said. “It is the first time we've been in this position. We just haven't gotten the big hits. We've gotten the good pitching and big defensive plays, but we just haven't hit the ball the way we are capable of.

“We can't wait too much longer, and we're trying. We still have three more series to do a better job, get a little hotter and hopefully be a playoff team.”

In order to get things back on track and make a good run at a playoffs, Hughes said the Dragons’ recipe is simple – the team just needs to collect more hits.

“Our pitching and defense has been real solid,” Hughes said. “We have just only had one district game out of six where have swung the bats well. We're just going to have to hit the ball better and score some runs. I think in district, we average about two runs per game.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2015 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Struggling Dragons look to improve on offense."