Friday, May. 02, 2008
5-5A champs look to keep focus
By BRYCE NIEMAN
The District 5-5A champion Indians will meet Lewisville – 6-5A’s fourth-place team – in a best-of-three, bi-district round matchup beginning tonight.
Keller coach Rob Stramp said even though his team enters the playoffs with the higher seed, he expects a tough series from the Fighting Farmers.
"They’re an aggressive team and they play in a tough district with Flower Mound and Hebron," Stramp said. "They had to battle through a tough district schedule like we had to."
Lewisville ace Danny Leranth has put together similar numbers and may be as tough a pitcher to face as Keller’s Kaleb Merck, Stramp said. Both hurlers have earned-run averages hovering around 1.00 with around 60 innings pitched.
"I think when (Leranth) is on the mound, (the Farmers) feel like they can beat anybody," Stramp said.
Stramp also identified Lewisville as having a "scrappiness" akin to what he sees in his own team.
Keller’s district title hopes appeared to be in jeopardy two weeks ago when it lost to Southlake Carroll for the second time this season. That left the two teams tied atop the 5-5A standings with the Dragons having the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Carroll stumbled a game later, but the Indians continued to battle and won their last two games of the regular season to secure the title outright.
Stramp said his team has played with consistency all season, and showed that in the final week of district play.
"We emphasize more than anything trying to go out and take care of business each game," Stramp said. "We don’t take any games off. In this district, you can’t afford to."
It was his players’ steady performances and focus, the coach said, that won Keller its third district title in four years, and fourth in Stramp’s 11 years with the program.
"It’s a matter of pride for us," Stramp said. "We play in a tough district with a lot of good teams, so to accomplish that is a pretty big deal."
Stramp said Keller’s primary goal each season is simply to get to the playoffs, with a league title as the secondary agenda. This year’s title, he said, is a tribute to the leadership on team.
Keller would like to have a nice, long playoff run, but Stramp said the team knows that it all starts with this opening series.
"If you can get a series under your belt and continue on, your team feeds on it and you have a chance to keep going," Stramp said. "But you have to get through that first round to get the confidence to get your team energized."
Players sometimes come out a little tight in the first playoff game, Stramp said, but it’s important to not be fazed by one bad game when a team needs two wins in a best-of-three series.
The nature of a possible three-game series forces coaches to consider various pitching strategies – who to pitch when and for how long – but outside of those concerns, Stramp said very little else changes for the postseason.
Stramp said he hopes his team continues to stay focused and play with consistency.
Both teams enter the series on winning streaks. Keller won its final two games of the regular season while the Farmers won their last four.
Keller’s bi-district series with Lewisville begins at 7 tonight at Indian Field. The matchup will move to Lewisville’s home field Saturday. Game Two on Saturday is set for noon, and if a third game is necessary, it will follow the second at Lewisville High.
The winner will face the winner of a series between Dallas Jesuit and Arlington next weekend.
Print
E-Mail
