By John Royster
June 17, 2002

Rick Carpenter generally is a nervous wreck before big games. And for a high school coach, they don't come much bigger than the Texas 5-A semifinals and finals, held annually at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Carpenter's team, Elkins of Missouri City, had reached that point for the third straight year, but this time more than the state title was at stake. The Knights had been ranked first in the nation by Baseball America and the National High School Baseball Coaches Association since the first in-season poll of the year. So they had more than a good idea they were playing for a national championship.

Their coach needn't have worried. Two days and two games later, Elkins (35-1) brought home both titles. The national title was ratified Sunday when the Knights earned a unanimous No. 1 ranking in the BA/NHSBCA final poll.

The semifinal against Westwood of Austin featured a premier, though strange, pitching matchup. Westwood righthander Brent Clevlen and Elkins lefthander James Loney both were among the first 50 picks in the first-year player draft three days earlier--as position players.

"I was really on pins and needles for that first game, for two reasons," Carpenter said. One, Brent Clevlen was pitching against us, and he was somebody who could beat us. Our assistant coaches had seen him and were very impressed. And also because we'd been there the previous two years and lost that first game, and I wanted no part of that again."

Neither pitcher had a particularly good game. Clevlen gave up nine hits and six runs, and didn't get out of the fourth inning. Loney surrendered just five hits, but walked seven and struck out just three in a complete game. Elkins won 6-1 as Westwood left runners all over the bases.

The Warriors put 12 runners in scoring position and had 11 LOBs overall. Loney worked out of jam after jam, including once when one of his spikes caught and he delivered a 40-odd mph called third strike while falling toward third base.

Carpenter said he was strangely calm before the final against another Austin school, Bowie. Despite the fact that Bowie had reached the semifinals by beating Ronald Reagan High of San Antonio, stopping the Rattlers' 24-game winning streak, and then disposed of traditional power Duncanville 8-3.

"That's the one that's really hard to describe," he said. "I just felt like we'd win it, and usually in a game like that I've got all kinds of butterflies. With Wardell (Starling) pitching, I didn't think we'd have to score many runs to win. And I felt like anybody's No. 2 we can get to."

Starling, a righthander, was considered a better prospect than Loney entering the season, before Loney blossomed physically and surpassed him. But after being drafted by the Pirates in the fourth round, Starling turned the final game into his personal showcase.

He threw a five-hitter and went 4-for-4 with three doubles. He retired the first nine batters and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, by which time the Knights led 8-0. The final score was 11-4.

Carpenter believes the two previous trips to Austin, with largely the same cast of players, were a factor in this year's success--and his own peace of mind. The Knights didn't play a lot of close games, but when they did, they responded with aplomb. The only loss came in a playoff game against Clear Creek of League City. Since it was part of a three-game series, it wasn't fatal.

"This group was unique," Carpenter said. "Very confident. And that helped me, too."

Then again, experience made little difference the only other time Elkins won a state championship, in 1995. It was the school's third year of existence, and its second fielding a varsity team.

There have been three other trips to the state semifinals/finals, and the school has produced at least five professional players, including White Sox and Pirates major leaguer Kip Wells. Carpenter has been the only coach, coming over from nearby Dulles when Elkins was carved out of Dulles' territory.

"We've had a lot of talent come through here, and the kids have been willing to work hard," Carpenter said. "We've had good assistant coaches. And we've had support from everybody you can name: fans, parents, students, administration."