School: Highland Park

Seth Gardner

What he did: Gardner has an extra-base hit in eight straight games and five home runs in his last six games. Gardner homered and had four RBIs in Friday's 14-1 win over Forney – then the No. 7 team in SportsDay's 4A area rankings – as Highland Park (28-5) extended its winning streak to seven and earned the No. 2 playoff seed in District 10-4A. Gardner was 2-for-2 with a double, a triple and one RBI in a 10-0 win over West Mesquite on Tuesday.

The stats: Gardner is hitting .550 with 44 RBIs and 44 runs. He has 11 doubles, six triples and nine home runs.

Who is he? A senior outfielder.

He said it: "I'm seeing the ball really good right now. Coaches always say, 'Never try to hit home runs.' You try to hit line drives, and then the line drives turn into home runs. I wouldn't consider myself a home run hitter."

Coach said it: "He's one of our captains and one of the guys we count on. He's one of our clutch hitters, and he's having a great season." – Sam Roberson

Did you know? Gardner has signed to play baseball for Arkansas. ... In football, he received honorable mention all-state recognition as a wide receiver in 2007 after leading area 4A players in receiving yards (1,491) and receiving touchdowns (21) for 4A Division II state runner-up Highland Park.