Carroll Academy baseball coach Sim Shanks is hoping his young team to find enough offense to stay alive in the postseason.
The Rebels (10-9) will face Simpson Academy in the second round of the North AA playoffs Tuesday after receiving a first-round bye as the District 2 champion. The first game of the best-of-three series starts at 6 p.m. at Simpson in Mendenhall.
Simpson defeated Indianola in two games to advance to the second, winning 11-1 and 10-9.
The second game is set for 4 p.m. Thursday in Carrollton. A third game, if needed, would follow immediately.
"Our pitching has been pretty good all year, and the defense has come on down the stretch. Our biggest problem has been struggling to score runs at times," said Shanks, who has guided the Rebels to the postseason in five of his seven years at CA.
"Simpson has a good No. 1 pitcher, so the key for us will be putting the ball in play. We only averaged four to six runs in district play. We would be happy to get five or six in the playoffs, pitch well and play good defense."
Freshman Jake Streater (5-2) will take the hill for Carroll Tuesday. He has a 3.22 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 41 innings
During the final week of the regular season, Streater pitched the Rebels to two victories over Manchester. Those wins were the difference between first and second for Carroll.
Senior shortstop Clay Perry will start the second playoff game for CA in what will be his first outing on the mound this season.
"Tyler Bingham has been our No. 2 starter, but he had to leave the team for personal reasons," Shanks said.
Offensively, the Rebels are led by Perry, voted the District 2 most valuable player after batting .600 in the regular season.
Perry, the team's leadoff hitter, went 33 for 55 at the plate with seven doubles and five triples. He has 28 stolen bases.
Sophomore left fielder Peyton Banes is batting .360 from the third spot in the lineup with four doubles and two triples and a team-high 26 RBIs. He has stolen 17 bases.
Junior center fielder Breland Marett is next with a .273 average.
Perry, Streater, Marett and Banes were all named to the first-team all-district squad. Dustin Harris was an honorable mention selection.
n Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
