Carlisle Rides Stingy + Deep Pitching Staff Into Class A Semifinal Against Weimar

Class A

State Semifinal

Carlisle Indians (27-1)

vs.

Weimar Wildcats (21-14-1)

Noon Wednesday (June 5), Round Rock's Dell Diamond

How they got here

Carlisle

• Bi-District: bye (20-A champion)
• Area: def. McLeod 2-0 in series (W 12-0, W 16-1)
• Region III quarterfinals: def. Simms Bowie 10-0 in one-game playoff
• Region III semifinals: def. West Sabine 2-0 in series (W 3-0, W 2-1)
• Region III final: def. Douglass 3-2 in one-game playoff

Weimar

• Bi-District: bye (28-A champion)
• Area: def. Thorndale 2-1 in series (W 9-2, L 5-2, W 11-4)
• Region IV quarterfinals: def. Thrall 2-1 in series (L 4-1, W 6-3, W 9-3)
• Region IV semifinals: def. Port Aransas 2-1 in series (W 7-4, L 9-7, W 6-5)
• Region IV finals: def. Flatonia 2-1 in series (L 8-0, W 3-1, W 8-5)

Top hitters

Carlisle

• Zach Brightwell, Jr., OF/P (.458, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 9 2B, 4 3B, 53 R, 17 SB)
• Gunner Baker, Sr., OF/P (.453, 1 HR, 58 RBI, 7 2B, 43 R, 30 SB)
• Caleb Colley, Jr., SS/P (.427, 1 HR, 36 RBI, 7 2B, 38 R, 33 SB)
• Ben Goss, Soph., 3B/P (.423, 1 HR, 55 RBI, 9 2B, 29 R, 11 SB)
• Shadow Sanders, Sr., OF/P (.385, 1 HR, 28 RBI, 49 R, 24 SB)

Weimar

• Alex Delgado, Sr., C/P (.468)
• Seth Helmcamp, Jr., SS (.403)
• Clay Kansteiner, Sr., LF (.379)
• Justin Rosenauer, Sr., P/OF (.365)
• John Blaha, Soph., 2B/P (.313)

Top pitchers

Carlisle

• Gunner Baker, Sr. (14-0, 0.08 ERA, 171 K, 83.1 IP)
• Shadow Sanders, Sr. (6-0, 0.00 ERA, 81 K, 45.1 IP)

Weimar

• John Blaha, Soph. (8-1)
• Justin Rosenauer, Sr. (7-4)

Coachspeak

• Carlisle coach Wesley Colley on his pitching staff, which has allowed just five earned runs all season: "I think it's just hard work. Really, what a lot of people don't realize is that we really take care of our arms and the kids take care of themselves. During the season, we lift weights three times a week. The kids are physically fit, in good shape and we try to keep everybody healthy. And that makes it easy to execute on game day."
• Colley on the state tournament's single-elimination format: "It's a one-game deal, so it's kinda nerve-wracking, especially when you know your team is the better team. I don't know that much about Weimar, I haven't laid eyes on them. But (staff ace Gunner Baker) will be on the hill (Wednesday) and if he continues to pitch the way he has, I think we'll be in good shape. Hopefully, we'll be on. But I think having one-gamers in the past has helped because we've had to stay focused."
• Colley on his offense, which has scored just eight runs in its last three games after averaging more than 10 during the season: "It seems like we hit good pitching better. I'm not taking anything away from West Sabine, but their pitching was average at best. We hit the Douglass kid a lot better in my opinion. We're kinda streaky."
• Colley on how much last season's appearance at state will benefit his team this week: "Last year, I kinda got the sense we were just happy to be there and it was kinda like whatever happens, happens. This year we're a lot more focused. Not only do we want to get back to state, we want to win a couple games. The focus has been more intense, and there's no pressure; the kids haven't played with any pressure all year."
• Colley on Wednesday's semifinal opponent, Weimar, which has 14 losses on the season: "I don't put a lot of stock in their record. They made it to the state tournament for a reason. They could be peaking at the right time. It's a challenge, whether they're undefeated or have 14 losses. We'll still approach it the same way we have all season."

Did you know?

• Carlisle's pitching staff has allowed just five earned runs in 180 innings this season for a team ERA of 0.19.
• The Indians' lone loss on the year occurred in a warm-up game against White Oak, which advanced to the area round of the Class 2A playoffs.
• Of Carlisle's 27 wins, 17 have come by at least 10 runs.
• Nine different Carlisle players have hit home runs this year. The Indians have 15 homers as a team.
• Weimar began the season at 4-8-1, but the Wildcats have gone 17-6 since.
• The Wildcats are making their seventh appearance at the state tournament. Weimar made it to state four consecutive years from 2000-03.

Up next

• Winner faces Stamford or Trenton in the 1A state final, 9 a.m. Thursday (June 6), Round Rock's Dell Diamond.