Just last month, Marcus hardly looked the part of a playoff contender.
    The Marauders were 5-7 in district play and were set to face league leaders Flower Mound and Coppell as part of a three-game stretch to close out the season. A playoff spot looked bleak at best.
    Oh how quickly things change.
    The Marauders (18-11) are in the middle of a best-of-3 Area Round playoff series with McKinney Boyd. Game 1 was Thursday, but as of press time no scores were available. Game 2, however, is slated for 8 p.m. on Friday at Marcus. Game 3, if necessary, is at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Hebron.
     “You don’t want to peak in March, you want to peak in April and May ... and that’s what it looks like we’re doing,” said Marcus coach Art Senato, whose team won two of its final three district games and knocked off the state’s top-ranked 5A team in Colleyville Heritage in the first round. “We have to play teams like Coppell, Flower Mound, Southlake Carroll and Hebron three times, so it gets you ready for the playoffs. We don’t have that deer in headlights look this time of year.”
    The latest course of events has played out eerily similar to last year -- albeit so far. Marcus was a paltry 2-5 in district before finishing 10-6. They went on to advance all the way to the 5A region finals before losing to El Paso Socorro.
    It was the program’s longest playoff run in its 23-year history, having never advanced past the regional quarterfinals heading in. They took on a completely different look this year after losing 12 seniors but managed to capture the same magic.
    In order to do it again, they’ll have to first get past McKinney Boyd. Boyd (24-7) finished second in a District 8-5A featuring the Plano schools, Allen, Wylie and Jesuit. They’ve won eight of their last 10, including a sweep of Grand Prairie in the first round of playoffs.
    Boyd beat Grand Prairie by a combined score of 22-1 in the two games. This included a 16-0 shutout in Game 1 in which Grand Prairie mustered just three hits against pitcher Doug Ashby. Boyd racked up 11 hits, including three home runs.
   “They have a leftie that has already signed with Baylor, they finished second in a district that’s one of the best in the area and they play good defense,” Senato said. “They’ll be a tough opponent, that’s for sure. There are no bad ones this time of year.”
    Marcus is proving to be much the same. Michael Gill pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out seven in a 6-0 win in Game 2 against Heritage. Including last year, Gill is 4-1 in the playoffs and is proving to be a serious threat both at the plate and on the mound.
    Chance Massa was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Dalton Morris and Brode Boyd also drove in key runs in the series sweep.
   “If we play like we did against Colleyville Heritage, we are going to be just fine,” Senato said. “Michael Gill, in particular, can make any coach look good. He put it all together and he steps up when it matters most.”
As do the rest of the Marauders this time of year.