Between playing baseball for Lincoln East and AAU basketball for Nebraska Supreme, Carter Mick has had a wild spring. And a busy weekend, too.
He has missed some weekend baseball in favor of hoops, but on Saturday in the A-2 District final, the sophomore pitcher chose his baseball teammates.
Mick pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out 11 to send No. 1 Lincoln East to the state tournament with a 1-0 win over Grand Island at Den Hartog Field.
Mick said with the postseason getting started, he needed to key in on baseball as the Spartans search for their first-ever state title. His odometer is proof. Mick played basketball in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, returned to Lincoln on Saturday and will be back on the hardwood in KC on Sunday.
“I knew that I had to help my team win and the best way to do that was to lock in in practice and work hard every day in practice,” he said. “I came out today and just competed my butt off.”
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Lincoln East’s high-powered offense was kept in check in the final by Grand Island’s Cohen Nelson.
The game’s lone run came across in the third inning. Owen Laessig was hit by a pitch, and later scored on an RBI groundout by Tanner Peterson.
Mick’s dominant performance on the mound calmed any anxiety stemming from the Spartans’ tepid day at the plate.
“Carter was phenomenal today. He picked up our offensive struggles today,” coach Mychal Lanik said. “He’s just been dynamite for us from day one and I’m really proud that he is on our side.”
It was not just Mick’s pitching that kept the Islanders scoreless in the game.
Troy Pelts saved an extra-base hit early in the game with a spectacular catch in left field, and the Lincoln East infield did not commit an error.
“My defense made a lot of plays behind me,” Mick said. “Troy’s play in the third, really good play. Harrison (Biester) another one in the fourth. Just really good plays all around and that is what helped us.”
In the two teams’ lone meeting in the regular season, Grand Island picked up a 5-0 win over the Spartans.
That was five weeks ago. Since then, East has won three tournaments and 23 of 25 games.
Mick said the team wanted some revenge from that game. Lanik thought it was the turning point for his young squad that has just two seniors.
“I’m just proud of how consistent we have been,” Lanik said. “We have laid a few eggs, but we have a young team and that is going to happen. They compete their hearts out and I love coaching them.”
Lincoln East is all too familiar with the heartbreak of the postseason.
Last year, the Spartans were knocked out by eventual champion Millard West 5-4 in the state semifinals. The Wildcats also defeated East earlier in the tournament.
Jeter Worthley was one of the few underclassmen on the field when their season ended, and he is hoping they can finally get over the hump.
“The energy is different, the competition is different, the whole atmosphere is different,” he said. “We are going in with a chip on our shoulder and I would love to get there again.”