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Keller chases state baseball title after midseason turnaround kept playoff streak alive

After a slow start to 2024, ninth-ranked Keller is now set for a showdown with defending champ Flower Mound in the UIL regional semifinals starting Thursday.

Rob Stramp takes pride in the fact that Keller has qualified for the baseball playoffs every season since 2002.

But for the first time in more than 20 years, the coach wasn’t sure Keller would make the postseason.

“Which is my biggest fear,” said Stramp, who has been at Keller since 1998.

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Stramp worried for naught. Keller (24–10–1) meets defending Class 6A state champion Flower Mound (36–3) in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Region I semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday at Dallas Baptist.

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Ranked ninth in The Dallas Morning News’ final regular-season 6A poll, Keller has emerged as a dark horse in this year’s playoffs. Keller went 7-5 in District 4-6A, finishing third behind Keller Timber Creek and Southlake Carroll in the district race. While Keller is ranked fourth in the state by MaxPreps, it spent much of the season left out of statewide polls.

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“The hitting has been slow coming around,” Stramp said. “We lost a lot of games just because we couldn’t score any runs. But [we] kind of turned the corner toward the latter part of district [play]. Then into the playoffs, we’ve swung the bat 100% better.”

Keller enters the regional semifinals after sweeping Weatherford, Wolfforth Frenship and district-mate Southlake Carroll in the first three series of the playoffs. In both games against Carroll, Keller scored 10 runs. Carroll went scoreless in Game 1 and managed just one run in Game 2.

All but one batter in Keller’s lineup had a hit in Game 2.

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“I feel like those two wins were [pivotal] to us,” said senior third baseman Fisher Polydoroff. “Not only just in the win column but outscoring them like we did, that means a lot to our offense and it really boosted the pitcher’s confidence in us as well.”

Polydoroff, a Weatherford College commit, is hitting .333. He had an RBI in Game 2 against Carroll and two RBIs in Game 1.

Senior pitcher Christopher Langley, a Tyler Junior College pledge with a 1.34 ERA, also starred in Game 1. Langley allowed two hits and no runs, striking out six and walking none through five innings on the mound.

“I don’t think anybody wants to play us. They’re not wishing that they could play Keller,” Stramp said. “Our players aren’t intimidated by anybody.”

Thursday will not be the first time Keller sees nationally ranked Flower Mound on the diamond this season. Keller played the reigning champs in February, losing 6-2. Despite the loss, Keller gleaned information that will come in handy this week.

“We’ve learned a lot from their offensive standpoint. Every hitter individually,” said senior Levi Shaffer, who pitched a hitless inning and struck out one in Keller’s Game 2 win over Carroll. “We know their pitchers really well, so I think overall it’s going to be a really, really good series.”

The closest Keller came to winning a state title was in 2021, when it fell 4-3 to Rockwall-Heath in the Class 6A state championship game. Keller is now two rounds away from the state tournament.

Keller’s softball team is making its own deep playoff run, meeting nationally ranked Denton Guyer in the Class 6A Region I final series this week.

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“I read an article that said we’re both matched up against the top-ranked team in Texas right now,” Polydoroff said. “I have a feeling that Keller’s going to come through with some upsets.”

Upon closer inspection, Keller’s deep playoff baseball run makes sense. During the regular season, Keller beat Rockwall-Heath, Frisco Lone Star and Richardson Pearce — all teams still alive in the playoffs. Keller also beat Prosper, one of the top teams in the state, 1-0 in March. Flower Mound swept Prosper in the regional quarterfinals.

Following a tight Game 1 in which both teams combined for five hits, Flower Mound had 10 in its 5-3 win over Prosper in Game 2. Senior catcher Zane Becker led the team with two RBIs, finishing 2-for-3 at bat.

This year, Flower Mound returned seniors Sam Erickson and Adrian Rodriguez. Both hit two-run home runs to lift Flower Mound past Pearland in the 2023 6A state title game. Rodriguez and Erickson are Texas A&M pledges, while Becker is an Arkansas signee. Flower Mound topped both The News’ Class 6A rankings and the statewide poll to end the regular season.

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But rankings can be arbitrary.

Top-ranked Prestonwood Christian lost just its second game of the season in the TAPPS Division I state semifinal, ending its playoff run in a massive upset by Tomball Concordia Lutheran. Flower Mound, the only unranked team at the 6A state tournament last season, ended up winning its second state championship in program history.

Anything could happen for Keller, which has exceeded even its coach’s expectations.

“To see a team turn itself around and gain confidence and belief, that’s been my favorite part,” Stramp said.

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Twitter: @t_myah

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