Mitchell Carroll Leads Highlands Past Westminster
Behind a gem of a start by Mitchell Carroll, Highlands Christian blanked Westminster Academy 6-0 on Tuesday to hand the Lions their first loss in District 3A-14. The victory was the Knights fifth straight win, and it kept them over .500 both on the season and in 3A-14 with a 6-5 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the district. It also kept them in contention for the district crown and a trip to the district playoffs.
Even though he was staring down a lineup that came in to the game having scored a mammoth 27 runs in their last 36 innings, Carroll was not intimidated. Instead, he came after the Lions from the first pitch and stayed after them all night long. Pounding the zone with a high 80’s fastball mixed in with a running and diving changeup and a nasty out-pitch slider, Carroll only needed 82 pitches to get through all seven frames.
Getting ahead in counts early was the trend on the night for Carroll, who threw first-pitch strikes to 75% of the hitters he faced. This allowed him to record 21 outs while having to face just 24 hitters, and he totaled 10 strikeouts along the way.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on first-pitch strikes. It’s changed everything,” Highlands Manager Bruce Charlebois said. “Mitchell has also matured an awful lot in terms of mound presence and reaction to failure. He kept his composure well and challenged a lot with fastballs. He pitched very offensively tonight and mixed in some secondary stuff, and was very effective and deceptive. I was very proud of him tonight.”
Carroll enjoyed ten-pitch innings in each the fourth, fifth, and sixth frames, and only had to throw an average of 11 pitches per inning on the night.
“Earlier in the year, I had trouble walking kids,” Carroll said. “Tonight, I wanted to get ahead in games and stay efficient. I was confident in our offense so I kept after them and it worked out.”
Carroll had reason to have faith in the Knights’ bats. Coming into Tuesday’s game, they had scored 40 runs in their last four games. That success continued, as they plated six runs on nine hits. It was a collective effort, as eight of their nine hitters reached base at least once.
Leading the charge was leadoff man and shortstop Swindley Lint, who reached base in all four of his plate appearances, twice via hits and one of which knocked in a run. According to Charlebois, in a game like this, he expected nothing less from the Curacao native. Charlebois also praised Lint’s passion for the game and pointed to his ability to stay focused and driven in any situation as the benefactors of his success.
Lions’ starter Trace Norkus kept his team competitive for most of the game.
“He’s a catalyst. When he goes, we go. And he tends to go a lot,” Charlebois said. “He just loves the game; he’s passionate about the game as much as anyone I’ve ever coached, and he plays it at a really high level. There are guys around who are looking at him but he doesn’t fall under pressure. He just continues to consistently get after it day in and day out. He also practices like he plays, which makes a huge difference.”
As good as Lint’s night was, most of it would not have been possible if not for the nine-hole hitter, youngster Jose Sosa. Twice on the night, the freshman battled out tough, patient at bats. One resulted in a walk and the other an RBI single, both of which reset the lineup.
“My approach at the plate was to attack the low zone and hit it up the middle,” Sosa said. “I’m glad I was able to help out as much as I did.”
Sosa’s success at the plate followed him onto the field. The left fielder made a full-extension, diving catch on a sinking fly ball, stealing a sure hit away from the Lions to lead off the fourth inning.
“I really didn’t know whether to dive or not there,” Sosa said. “But I just made a split-second decision, laid out for my team, and wound up with the ball.”
Although he admitted Sosa has been a work-in-progress so far in his young high school career, Charlebois said he could not asked for a better effort out of his young outfielder in this game.
“It’s been work,” Charlebois said. “The risk-taking element and the confidence he plays with, especially tonight, are great. But they haven’t come without a lot of freshman discipline; a lot of humbling. He has been coachable and willing to change, and that change was very evident tonight.”
Westminster Academy’s Trace Norkus had an overall effective start. Although he had his battles against the formidable Knights’ offense, the senior limited damage and was able to keep his team in contention for most of the night. While he didn’t have his best stuff on the night and staked the Knights to a two-run lead early, Norkus was ahead in the count often and was able to strand runners in scoring position in three separate frames, giving his offense a chance to go to work.
“Trace did a good job,” Lions Manager Nick James said. “He kept us in the game and made some quality pitches when he needed to.”
On his team’s shortcomings on the night, James referenced the Lions’ approach when down to their final strike, and their inability to put the ball in play.
“I think the big difference-maker is that their guys did a better job with a two-strike approach,” James said. “They were able to take advantage of any miscues we made tonight and we just weren’t able to match that. We had a few too many punch outs and we didn’t put much pressure on their defense whatsoever. We just didn’t give ourselves much of a chance to be successful.”
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