The baseball team will compete against Marcus on April 4 at the Hebron baseball field at 7 p.m. This will be the team’s fourth set of district games since the district season began on March 15 against Coppell.

“Marcus is a very smart team,” senior second baseman Cade Binion said. “They’re very sneaky [and] small ballish (offensive strategy), in a baseball term. They’re really [skilled] and [are trained] by a really good coach.”

In the past, Marcus has been a difficult opponent for the team, as the Hawks have not won against the Marauders since the 2018-2019 season. That year’s season ended with the team making it to the playoffs, winning against teams such as Keller and Mansfield, before losing to Flower Mound. This time around head coach Steve Stone says they are working to slow down Marcus to keep them off the bases.

“We try to control the running game,” head coach Steve Stone said. “We work really hard with our pitchers on controlling the running game and making sure that we get our team defense in place so that we can slow [Marcus] down. The best way to slow them down is to not let them get on base.”

The Hawks currently have five wins and one loss in districts. They won both sets of games against Plano East and Lewisville but lost one game against Coppell,2-0.

“We’ve kind of played down to some teams’ levels, rolled through some teams and not really played how we can [this season],” senior pitcher Will Patterson said. “It kind of cost us a little bit, but when we play to our [best] ability, that’s normally when we start beating teams and winning games.”

Stone said the team’s greatest strengths come from being very senior-heavy, allowing access to players with a great amount of experience. 

“[Us coaches] have been doing a great job of putting the kids first and letting the kids play, but we have to give them direction and make sure they stay on top of things,” Stone said. “We definitely want it to be a player-led team, because when it’s player-led you can achieve more. If they’re waiting on the coach to do everything, then that’s not good.”

With this being the seniors’ last season, and last chance to play against Marcus, Binion said it is sad to see it end, but also a good feeling and that he is ready to play at the next level.  

“You earn a lot of mental toughness, and you earn a lot of friends [from playing baseball],” Binion said. “You make relationships with coaches and teachers. The main part is the guys and just making friends for the future.”