School: Flower Mound Marcus

Michael Gill

What he did: Gill had an impressive week as Marcus advanced to the Class 5A regional semifinals. He went 3-for-4 Tuesday to help Marcus defeat Plano in the area round. Then he threw a shutout and hit a home run in Game 1 against Plano East. Gill went a combined 4-for-8 in Games 2 and 3 as Marcus advanced.

The stats: Gill's season numbers were off the charts, especially his .478 batting average. Coach Art Senato initially had Gill batting in the No. 9 spot. But Senato flipped his No. 9 and leadoff hitters, and the switch paid off. Gill has struck out only a dozen times this season.

Who is he: A 5-10, 178-pound sophomore pitcher and outfielder.

He said it: "Nothing's really guaranteed the next day. Some people have a great game and go 4-for-4, but the next game, they could go 0-for-4. I didn't take anything for granted that I would do anything spectacular."

Coach said it: "He's played a high level of baseball pretty much his entire life, and it shows up in big games like this." – Art Senato

Did you know? When Gill was 13, he played on a select youth baseball team that traveled to Japan. ... In his spare time, Gill likes to draw. But he ends up throwing most of his drawings away before anyone can see them.