Baseball to avenge preseason tournament loss in round 3 series against Prosper

Coppell+senior+right+fielder+Will+Rodman+slides+onto+third+base+against+Dallas+Jesuit+on+May+14+at+the+Coppell+ISD+Baseball%2FSoftball+Complex.+The+Cowboys+face+Prosper+in+the+Class+6A+Region+I+Regional+Quarterfinals+best-of-three+series+with+Game+1+tomorrow+at+7%3A30+p.m%2C+Game+2+on+Friday+at+7%3A30+p.m.+and+Game+3%2C+if+necessary%2C+on+Saturday+at+1+p.m.+with+all+games+being+played+at+Lake+Dallas+High+School.+

Anjali Krishna

Coppell senior right fielder Will Rodman slides onto third base against Dallas Jesuit on May 14 at the Coppell ISD Baseball/Softball Complex. The Cowboys face Prosper in the Class 6A Region I Regional Quarterfinals best-of-three series with Game 1 tomorrow at 7:30 p.m, Game 2 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, on Saturday at 1 p.m. with all games being played at Lake Dallas High School.

Meer Mahfuz, Staff Writer

On March 12, the Coppell baseball team lost a heartbreaker tournament game at Prosper in the Scotland Yard Classic. The Cowboys led by two runs before dropping the game to the Eagles 5-4, giving them their third loss of the season.

Coppell (28-7-1) gets a shot at revenge as it rematches Prosper (27-11) the Class 6A Region I regional quarterfinals best-of-three series with Game 1 tomorrow at 7:30 p.m, Game 2 on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, on Saturday at 1 p.m. All games are at Lake Dallas High School. 

“There’s some revenge there but our team and their team are completely different teams [since the loss] from the level of baseball we’re playing at right now,” Coppell senior pitcher Will Rodman said. “We’re not going to let [the March 12 loss] change the way we come out, we’re just going to stick to what we know and play our game.”  

The projected weather forecast for this series shows rain throughout the week, meaning that the Cowboys pitching, batting and fielding could be impacted. However, the practices inside the Coppell High School field house will help the Cowboys as the Lake Dallas baseball field is turf.

“It’s definitely harder to get a grip on the ball when it’s wet,” Krauss said. “It’ll make it harder for the pitchers to throw when it’s wet but we’ll stick to the game plan and if it is wet, then we’ll find a way around it and find a way to win.”

The first game is highlighted by the pitching matchup. Rodman, a Oklahoma Christian signee, has thrown four straight complete game shutouts while Prosper junior pitcher Lucas Davenport, a Texas A&M signee, is one of the top pitchers in the area.

“We’ll talk about who we’re playing, who the other team has, what their record is, the teams they’ve played and who’s going where [for college] but, when game time comes, we really put the focus on us and doing what we can do,” Coppell senior first baseman David Jeon said. ”Trusting that Will and Chayton will go out and throw a great game and trusting that our hitters get the hits we need and the runs up there [is all that we’re worried about].”   

Three District 6-6A teams remain in the playoffs (Coppell, Marcus and Plano) while Prosper is the lone District 5-6A team.

“Playing in such a special and talented district really helped us for the playoffs,” Rodman said. “We won’t see anything that we haven’t seen before because we’ve been playing top competition the whole year so that’s definitely going to be a great advantage for us.” 

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