The Aledo Bearcats baseball team survived a nearly six-hour state championship game on June 5 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, beating Lake Creek just before midnight.
The Bearcats won 3-1 against the Lions, suffering weather delays before and during the game as lightning and rain made for a wet and humid atmosphere while the constant delays tested both teams and fan bases throughout.
Aledo came into the game as the favorites. With a 38-3 record, the defending state champs had played all season like a team expecting to return to Round Rock. The Bearcats’ baseball program was making its fifth state tournament appearance, having won titles in 2014 and 2025. Despite playing all season with a target on its back, the team lived up to expectations, going through the postseason unbeaten.
For Lake Creek, the Lions were making their first appearance in the state final in program history. With a 26-17 record heading into the game, Lake Creek entered the playoffs at 15-15 before catching fire in the postseason. The Lions beat a highly touted Rouse team in the state semifinal the previous week, giving them the belief they could pull the upset for the second straight time.
Rain and lightning delays in the previous two games that day meant the game did not start until nearly two and a half hours later than scheduled.
After a scoreless first inning, the Bearcats got on the board in the top of the second inning. Dylan Duran and Kyle Poindexter hit back-to-back singles before Will Cayce laid down a bunt and beat the throw to load the bases with no outs. Two batters later, Connor Whitmire grounded out to second base, but the groundout drove in a run. Aledo led 1-0.
Lake Creek had an opportunity later in the inning. With one out, a throw from third to first was bobbled for an error. On the next at-bat, the ball was dribbled down the first-base line for another error as the Lions had two runners on. Pitcher Lucas Nawrocki got out of it, striking out the next batter before inducing an infield fly for the third out.
In the top of the third inning at 7 p.m., a lightning delay was followed by a rain delay that paused play for about two hours.
Luke Gladchuk led off the inning and drew a walk. He stole second, and when the Lions tried to pick him off, the throw was mishandled for an error, allowing Gladchuk to advance to third.
Landon Barnes then hit a ground ball to third base for an error as Gladchuk came home. Barnes stretched the hit to second, but another error on the throw allowed him to reach third.
Nawrocki then drove him in with a line drive single to put Aledo up 3-0, which led to Lake Creek changing pitchers. The Lions got out of the inning without further damage.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Lions threatened in the fifth, drawing three straight walks with one out to load the bases, which led to Dane Browne coming in to pitch his way out of the jam.
Browne wiggled his way out, inducing an infield pop fly and then a shallow fly ball to left field to end the inning unscathed.
Aledo had a good opportunity to add to its lead in the sixth inning. Dylan Duran led off with a single, and Kyle Poindexter was hit by a pitch with no outs. Following a strikeout, Jackson Loos drew a walk to load the bases with one out. The next batter hit into an inning-ending double play as Lake Creek escaped without giving up any runs.
The Lions used that momentum in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Peyton Trummell hit a solo home run into left field for Lake Creek's first hit of the game, cutting the lead to 3-1.
The Lions were not done. The next batter was hit by a pitch, and a single two at-bats later put two runners on. Browne battled through and induced a groundout to second base for the third out.
Heading into the top of the seventh inning, a second lightning delay struck at 10:43 p.m. The final inning resumed at 11:20 p.m.
Wilson Sehnem led off with a walk. After two outs, Nawrocki drew another walk to put two runners on base, but Aledo could not add to its lead as Lake Creek was down to its last three outs.
Garrett Love came in to get the save on the mound after coming through the previous week and all season. The first batter popped out into foul territory for out one. The second batter hit a single up the middle. The next batter flew out to right field for out two.
The fans and the team were on their feet during the next at-bat, willing it to be the final one. Love got a strike-one call before the next pitch was fouled off. He didn't leave the Bearcat fans waiting, striking out the batter with the next pitch swinging.
The dogpile commenced. After nearly six hours — two past the scheduled start — Aledo became back-to-back 5A Division I state champs. The team that had the highest expectations placed on it lived up to all of them with the 3-1 win in the state title game.
Nawrocki was named the game's Most Valuable Player for the second straight time after winning last year. He pitched 4.1 innings, giving up no runs or hits while striking out two and walking three batters. With the bat he went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. However, the win was so much more than a one-man show.
Barnes and Whitmire each drove in a run, while Gladchuk stole two bases, scored a run and tracked down every ball hit his way in center field. The team finished with eight hits and drew four walks.
Browne came in and put out a huge fire, pitching 1.2 innings and giving up one run on two hits before Love came on to earn the save, allowing no runs on one hit while striking out the last batter of the game. The defense recovered after two early errors to play clean baseball the rest of the way.
The pitching and defense were this team's strength, and fittingly, that proved the reason the team held on in the low-scoring contest.
This group of seniors, many of whom were big-time players on last year's team, now leave Aledo as the most accomplished class of baseball players in program history. Not a small feat for a program that now has three state titles in the last 12 years.
Coach Chad Barry has been there for all of them. While many on the outside will point to this team's immense talent as the reason for this historic accomplishment, Barry hopes future Aledo baseball players take another lesson from this group.
"Their relentless will to win," Barry said. "They have no quit in them. It doesn't matter, they are never going to give up. They are always going to come at you. That is the tenacity they played with all year long and that is what I want the younger Bearcats to see."
The good news is the Aledo JV and freshman teams both finished district with undefeated records. With a lot of shoes to fill next season, a new era of Bearcats will have a lot to live up to. But at Aledo, that is nothing new.
Aledo offense: Landon Barnes one hit, one RBI, one run; Lucas Nawrocki one hit, one RBI, one walk; Connor Whitmire one hit, one RBI; Dylan Duran two hits, one run; Luke Gladchuk one run, one walk, two steals; Wilson Sehnem one hit, one walk; Kyle Poindexter one hit, one hit by pitch; Will Cayce one hit; Jackson Loos one walk.
Aledo pitching: Lucas Nawrocki 4.1 innings, zero runs, zero hits, two strikeouts, three walks; Dane Browne 1.2 innings, two hits, one run; Garrett Love one inning, one hit, zero runs, one strikeout.
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