Prosper ISD Head Baseball Coach Rick Carpenter coached in Prosper ISD for 12 years. During that time, he coached his teams to a State Championship in 2015 as well as to the Regional Semi-finals four times, Regional Quarterfinals twice and the Area Championship four times prior to the 2019 season. He was named the District Coach of the Year 19 times in his career as well as Coach of the Year from many other circuits including USA Today, MLB Players, National Federation of High Schools and many others. He coached 34 professional athletes with 4 of them becoming MLB players including his son Matt Carpenter. Coach Carpenter is a member of the Elkins High School, Franklin High School and Texas High School Baseball Coaches Halls of Fame. 

PROSPER HIGH SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTS 

2008 - Bi-District Champs/Area Finalists (22-7) 2009 - Bi-District Champs/Area Finalists (23-7) 2010 - Bi-District Champs/Area Finalists (26-7) 2011 - Bi-District Champs/Area Finalists (22-13) 2012 - District Champs/Regional Semifinals (30-9) 2013 - Regional Semifinals (19-18) 2014 - District Champs/Regional Semifinals (29-12) 2015 - District Champs/PHS STATE CHAMPS (35-3) 2016 - Regional Quarters (26-13) 2017 - District Champs/Regional Quarters (29-6-1) 2018 - District Champs/Regional Semifinals (36-9-2)

OVERALL COACHING CAREER 

District Coach of the Year 19 times; Houston Chronicle Coach of the Year 1994, 2000, 2002; Dallas Morning News Coach of the Year 2015; Texas Sports Writers State Coach of the Year 1995, 2002, 2003; Houston 5A Coach of the Year 2001, 2002, 2003; MLB Players State Coach of the Year 2002; USA Today National Coach of the Year 2002; Student Sports Magazine National Coach of the Year 2002; Ray Knoblach Award (Houston Area Coach of the Year) 2002; NFHS Coaches Association National Coach of the Year 2014; BCA National Coach of the Year 2002; BCA District 6 Coach of the Year 2002; ABCA Regional Coach of the Year 2002; NFHS Texas Coach of the Year 2003; Coach: Texas High School All Star Game 1995 Coach: Houston Area High School All Star Game 1997; Elkins Baseball Hall of Fame; Franklin High School Hall of Fame; Texas High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame; Back To Back State Champs 5A 2002-2003; 4 consecutive trips to the State Tournament 2000-03 (tied for most); 5A State Championships 1995, 2002, 2003, 2015 (tied for most); One of only 2 coaches to win a state championship at 2 schools

After making it to the state tournament semifinals in 1982 and 1983, the 1984 Eagles had had enough of going home empty. They would go on to become the 1st Prosper team to win a State Championship as the 1A State Champions in 1983-1984. The Eagles would beat Runge 18-7 in the Championship, after beating Lingleville 12-2 in Semifinal game. The team would finish with a record of 25-4. In the playoffs Prosper defeated Savoy 12-2, Saint Jo 13-2, Abbott 13-12 and Caddo Mills 7-4. Derek Stansell got things going early with a 375 foot blast to left field for a two-run opposite field home run. Prosper would record 21 hits in the game as every Eagle would score a run. Denny Webb established a tournament record with five hits in his five trips to the plate. Richard Furr added four hits and three RBI. Tim James would get the win as well as having three hits. Prosper scored in every inning except the sixth and threw out two Yellowjacket runners at home plate.

The Eagles were coached by Robert Boyd. Earning 1st Team All District were Derek Stansell (hit .513 during the regular season), Tim James, Steve, Richard Furr, and Denny Webb. Prosper also had two members on the 2nd Team All District, Roger Ricketts and Chris Tolleson. Three team members made All State, Derek Stansell, Denny Webb and Richard Furr. One team member made the Texas All-Star Team, pitching ace Derek Stansell with a 6-0 record thanks to an 85 mile per hour fastball.

Prosper also filled the All-Tournament Team with the following members: Derek Stansell (1B hit .615 in the playoffs), Roger Ricketts (2B), Jimbo Smotherman (3B hit .600 in the playoffs), Tim James (SS), Denny Webb (OF), Chris Tolleson (OF), Richard Furr (OF), and Glenn Cashon (DH).

The Prosper Eagles played their first ever football game on September 27th, 1950. It was a 6-man tilt against the Allen Eagles. Jim Hughes was the starting quarterback and threw the first ever touchdown pass on a 20 yard throw to end Ben Munday. When Prosper notched their first win ever 14-7 over Blue Ridge, Jim Hughes led the team at quarterback. Jim would score 3 touchdowns in the teams final game victory over Blue Ridge 34-24. Jim was always a leader, captain of the football team, 4 year letterman in basketball, and 4 year letterman in baseball. Jim would also star at Sam Houston State playing both basketball and baseball. In 1954 he was the leading scorer of the basketball team and leading hitter on the baseball team. He made all conference in both sports. Jim was inducted into the Sam Houston Letterman’s Hall of Honor in 1991. Hughes would play 14 years of minor league baseball hitting 83 homers and playing 7 of those years in triple A, just a phone call away from the majors. Jim then turned to scouting and worked for both the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays. He would be named the Midwest Scout of the Year in 1995 and be inducted into the Texas Scouts Assoc Hall of Fame in 1999. Jim is a veteran of the US Army. He served as a charter member of the Prosper Historical Society and on the Board of Directors. In 2011 he was awarded the Prosper Founding heritage Citizenship award and in 2013 the Community Builder award from the Masons. Jim did volunteer work for the Bethlehem Place and Cornerstone.

The first ever Prosper High School STATE champion. It has a great ring to it. Especially when you are only a freshman. Donnie Garrett “set the bar high” in his first year with the pole vault jumping 12-6 at the state finals, and kept looking up. He would win state again in 1973 as a sophomore, and once again in 1974 as a junior. As a senior, Donnie finished third at the regional competition in the pole vault, but went to state for discus with a toss of 138-4. Donnie’s all around athleticism was also on display on the gridiron. He played several positions including quarterback, running back, defense and was even the kicker. Maybe the game of his career came against Collinsville when Garrett would run for three touchdowns, throw for three touchdowns, and intercept a pass for a touchdown in the Eagles 45-0 victory which moved them to 3-0 in 1974. The end of football season would see Donnie move to the basketball court and continue to dominate. Donnie was a 4-year letterman in basketball and an All-District selection as a sophomore. Donnie was always among the leading scoring including an 18 point night against Anna in an Eagles 63-39 victory. Baseball was no different. Donnie excelled as both a pitcher and a hitter. He would also be a 4-year letterman and was part of both district and bi-district championship teams. As a senior, Donnie had an amazing game pitching a one-hitter and driving in two runs against Princeton early in the 1975 season.

Some nights everything goes your way. Woody Hamby had many of those nights on the gridiron, but few experience a night like he had in November of 1962. Woody would score 8 touchdowns and kick 8 extra points leading Prosper to a 100-0 victory over Collinsville. This outburst would land Woody as the top scorer in the district with a total of 188 points on 28 touchdowns and 20 extra points. Weekly outbursts were common for Woody, including a 5 touchdown night in a 62-12 rout of Tom Bean that included runs of 50 and 40 yards. Hamby was a fast 150 pound halfback playing 8 man football and was always hard to stop. Woody was a 4-year letterman in football, twice making All-District, and like many boys of the time, he went right from one sport to another. Hamby would lead the varsity boys to a win in the PISD basketball classic in 1962. The team would never trail in the championship game, with Woody scoring 24 points in the final as Prosper defeated Community 64-53. Woody was selected as the outstanding player with 55 points in three games. Hamby would again be a 4-year letterman as well as first team All-District. Hamby’s baseball career would be even more impressive. In 1962, Prosper would win the Bi-District title after defeating Roxton 9-1 as Woody banged out three hits including a home run and triple. The team finished 11-1 in District 27-B. During Hamby’s senior season Prosper would again be Class B Bi-District champions with a 16-2 record,and Woody would hit over .500. Hamby would use his speed to help the track team as well. He was a 2-year letterman that held the PHS 100 yard dash record of 10.1 seconds. As a senior, he placed third in Region III-B in the 100 yard dash. For three years, Woody would play baseball for the Denton Broncos, an American Legion team. In those three seasons, Woody set many records, including 54 runs, 60 hits, 29 walks, 5 triples and 33 stolen bases. This play would earn him a baseball scholarship to TCU where he would bat .375 as a freshman. In August of 1964, Woody would sign a Major League Baseball contract with the Cincinnati Reds and be assigned to the Tampa, Florida club for spring training. Unfortunately, he would suffer a career-ending injury before playing for the team.