The Keller Indians and Southlake Carroll Dragons are set to face each other in the UIL Class 6A Region I Regional Finals. Not only do both teams have a fight that never dies, but the receipts to prove it. Let's take a look at how the teams got to this point.
Keller (32-6)
This season, the Indians jumped right in ready to show their opponents that they meant business. Despite an early loss in the season, Keller continued to fight for their place at the top. En route to playoffs, Keller won bigs games over the likes of Highland Park, McKinney, Arlington Martin V.R. Eaton, Timber Creek, Weatherford, and more.
The Indians have spent all playoffs eliminating team after team. First a sweep over El Paso Americas (8-0, 13-3) before finishing with the upper hand in a three-game series against V.R. Eaton (9-4, 1-2, 13-10). Last week, Keller won the Regional Semi-Finals over Coppell in three games (5-2, 5-6, 7-1) in order to advance to the Regional Finals against Southlake Carroll.
Keller has been known this season for coming out swinging and getting on the board quickly. The Indians have outscored their opponents by over 175 runs on the season so far, proving that their defense is just as poised as their offense. Fans should expect no less coming into the Regional Finals.
Southlake Carroll (28-16)
The Dragons had a much different start to their season than Keller did. Southlake Carroll started rough, but has been able to bounce back and prove themselves throughout the course of the season.
With a strong defense, Southlake Carroll has been able to post great wins against the likes of Flower Mound, Friendship, South Grand Prairie, Mansfield Legacy, and more. The Dragons defense has been able to hold their opponents to low runs throughout the season while the offense has really stepped up to the plate and taken their run scoring role seriously.
Fans will find that the Dragons are consistent throughout the games that they play. Getting on base early and doing what it takes to get home. It should be assumed that Southlake Carroll will focus their efforts on a strong Keller team in an attempt to repeat each series in the playoffs so far. In playoffs, the Dragons have taken down Paschal (3-0), El Paso Montwood (1-4, 10-0, 11-0), Odessa Permian (5-1, 2-3, 11-1), and Flower Mound Marcus (5-4, 9-0).
Previous Meetings
As district opponents, the Indians and Dragons have already seen each other on the diamond a handful of times this season. In a mid-March meeting, Southlake Carroll held Keller scoreless in a 3-0 Dragon win. In mid-April, Keller flipped the role and won a 7-4 match.
Seeing each other already while also playing the same opponents all season, it's going to be a heck of a showdown. Fans can expect to see a series unlike most in the Regional Finals.
Game 1 of the series between Keller and Southlake Carroll is set to begin Thursday at Dallas Baptist University with a first-pitch time of 7:30 p.m.