New heights
By TRAE THOMPSONSTAR-TELEGRAM STAFF
-- It's hard to recognize the Colleyville Heritage baseball team.
The team that finished 18-11 last season and below .500 in district has been radically transformed, both mentally and physically. The Panthers (13-2, 3-0), No. 4 in the Star-Telegram Class 5A area rankings, are tied for first in District 5-5A with Denton Ryan (10-5, 3-0) entering tonight's game at Haltom (9-5, 2-1). Both teams have shown improvement, but the Panthers know there is an even greater level to reach.
"It's completely different," senior right fielder/pitcher Steven DeLeo said. "We've started off a lot better than we did last year. I'm having a lot more fun this year. We're winning games, we haven't lost a district game yet. Going into it, I knew we'd have a really good team this year."
The Panthers are hitting .310 as a team, and they have three players with an average above .350, led by Scott Lawson (.383). The Panthers' pitching staff, led by DeLeo (3-0) and ace Matt Lane (2-1), has a 2.24 ERA and a solid strikeout-to-walk ratio (85/45).
Colleyville Heritage already has a 9-0 victory over McKinney North, ranked 17th in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 4A preseason poll, and 3-1 over Waxahachie, No. 5 in the Star-Telegram Class 4A area rankings. The Panthers also defeated Carroll 4-3 in 10 innings Friday and came up one run short in a 7-6 loss to 4A state power Arlington Heights on March 3.
First-year Panthers coach Alan McDougal spent the previous five seasons at Colleyville Heritage as an assistant to longtime coach Tommy Elliott, who was impressed with what he saw.
"They got a good group," Elliott said. "They've got some good-looking, big guys. They can hit for average, hit for power. I don't think they're going to have dominating pitching like some teams do, but defensively, they know what they're doing, and they swing the bat."
The team's change can be partly traced to McDougal, the Panthers' third head coach in three seasons.
The son of a two-star general, McDougal has infused the team with an attitude of excellence. On Tuesday, after playing in poor weather against Fossil Ridge, he huddled his players together. He told them he could put the season on cruise control and let their talent get them a spot in the postseason. But that won't be acceptable, he added.
"We've got to fight for a district championship, because we've got that type of talent," McDougal said. "If we sit there and let the little things slide by, as the year goes on, the little things are going to get us beat."
But that might not happen.
"We've never had a baseball team that's been that great," said junior first baseman Casey Russell, who had the game-winning hit against Carroll. "We've gone to the playoffs, but the first, second round, we've been knocked out. This is our time to go far."
Power-packed
Colleyville Heritage has its share of strong hitters:
Player Avg. H R RBI
Scott Lawson .383 18 18 12
Alex Aycoth .373 19 11 18
CJ Comstock .366 15 9 5
Steven DeLeo .343 12 18 11
Paul Victor .333 15 11 11
IN THE KNOW
District 5-5A standings Team
Coll. Heritage 13-2, 3-0
Denton Ryan 10-5, 3-0
Keller 13-5, 2-1
Haltom 9-5, 2-1
Carroll 9-7, 1-2
Grapevine 7-6, 1-2
Fossil Ridge 10-7, 0-3
Richland 3-10, 0-3
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