District dangers

To visually represent the varsity baseball team (6-15, 2-5) in 2024, it’d look like sound waves: the team has peaked with upsets and statement wins, but has also faced its fair share of divots.

“There’s been lots of ups and downs, but I feel like we’ll manage for the rest of the season,” senior third baseman Angel Cuevas said. “There’s some innings where our offense needs work and some innings where it’s good. It just has to get even, and I feel pretty confident about it in our games coming up.”

Currently, Farmers are in a downturn, facing back-to-back 10-run losses to Hebron (13-7-1, 6-1) and Flower Mound (21-3, 7-0). The team hopes to even the series against the Jaguars when the two meet again on Mike Campbell Field at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 5.

“We’ve looked forward to playing them and seeing how we compete against them,” head coach Stephen Campbell said. “It’ll prove how good we really are and if we can play at a higher level. Hopefully we just trust the process and have good at bats. We’ll have to find different ways to get on base and manufacture some runs.”

Two weeks ago, Plano West (9-9, 3-4) swept the Farmers with a 1-0 win in Plano. Junior pitcher Trenton Brantley pitched the entire game, allowing two base hits compared to the one surrendered by the Wolves, but the offense was unable to respond to the early score.

“Brantley pitched amazing,” Campbell said. “He made one wild pitch that hurt him, and we should have had his back and at least tied it. We’d like to have that game back, but their guys did a great job of keeping us off balance, so we tip our hats to them and hopefully we can do better in these weeks.”

On Saturday, March 16, the team changed its trajectory again with a 7-5 senior day win over Denton Ryan. Senior Jaxon Erlinger and junior Nehomar Mosqueda combined for seven strikeouts, while Smith ran in two runs in the productive offensive day.

“Any time you get a win and perform well, it really does help you focus and clear any negative thoughts,” Campbell said. “This is a really hard game, so any time we can pull out a win and pitch the ball well, it’s a good day.”

The following Wednesday, the Farmers hosted the Hawks, upsetting Hebron 6-2 for the team’s first consecutive win since February.

“I’m really stoked about that win [against Hebron],” sophomore left fielder Donovan Smith said. “We haven’t beaten them in a while. We have to take that energy and bring it into the next games.”

The following night, Hebron clapped back with a 12-2 win in Carrollton. Fresh off of an 11-1 loss to the Jaguars, the team now has to find its rhythm and get back to standard on its pitching and defensive play. Flower Mound is ranked first in MaxPreps Texas rankings, and has yet to lose a district game, extending its win streak to 10.

“We’re in the death row of our district with Flower Mound now and Marcus next week, but I think we’ll be good,” Smith said. “Our struggle is offense, and it has shown with our two shutouts. It’s small things [to fix], and when we put them together like [against Hebron], we can beat one of the best teams in the district. We just have to put it all together more consistently.”

Winning against Marcus (12-9, 4-3) and Coppell (8-13, 3-4) will be challenging as it is important; alongside Plano West, who the Farmers have already played, the four teams will be playing for the third and fourth playoff spots in District 6-6A.