The Red Level Tigers (14-7) are looking forward to hosting Holy Spirit (13-3) today in Red Level for the second round of the AHSAA Class 1A state playoffs.

“They are a good team,” Red Level head coach Todd Smith said of Holy Spirit. “At this point in the season, every team is going to be a good team. They have a good pitching staff and they have a couple of guys that can hit for power.”

For Red Level, Smith said the Tigers must improve their defense.

“We have to limit errors,” Smith said. “We were fortunate in game three of the last series. It came down to hitting because we made so many errors. Our offense has been our strong suit and our pitchers have done a good job. If we continue to play like we have been playing lately and clean up on defense, we will have a chance to win this series.”

Smith said he has had several players that have made an impact in the playoffs.

“Parker Spears has really come a long way hitting,” Smith said. “He was a guy who had struggled a bit at the plate and then he went 5-for-10 in the series against St. Luke’s. Tucker Livings had a good series on the plate and the mound. Kade Green is kind of our go-to guy in all three phases of the game. Chance Russell had a really good series as well. I’m looking forward to these guys being big time players for us and help carry us through the series.”

The kids are excited about hosting the round two series, Smith said.

“They are really excited,” Smith said of his players. “We set some goals at the beginning of the year. Those were to host round one, have a winning season and make it to the second round. The kids are excited and they have to come to work each day with the right mindset. I really can’t even begin to explain how excited they are about hosting round two. The community has also been really excited to see these guys have so much success.”

Smith said that they Red Level crowds have been crucial to the Tigers’ success.

“We have had some really good crowds at home games,” Smith said. “They aren’t just there to hang out. They are cheering the whole game. It sounds cliché, but I don’t know that we win that third game without our crowd. The players just seem to feed off of their energy. I hope we can have some more big crowds this weekend and have them help carry us to a win.”

Game one is set for 3:30 p.m., and game two at 6 p.m.