By Kevin Lonnquist
NTX Varsity Sports Columnist
High school graduations have come and gone. Those seniors are now focusing on the next chapter of their lives.
Well, most of them.
You see if a senior plays softball or baseball, and is on a really good team, there’s a chance she or he is still wearing the uniform at this time of year.
That’s what we have with Aledo softball and baseball, Boyd baseball and Paradise baseball. Those seniors can’t put it on summer autopilot yet.
There’s a championship to win. They are either one or three wins away from lifting a state championship trophy.
For the NTX Varsity Sports coverage area, there are four teams still coming to practice and preparing. On Friday, Lady Cat softball plays for the Class 5A Division I state title. Starting Wednesday, Boyd and then on Thursday Paradise play in the Class 3A Division I and Division II state semifinals. Aledo also competes in the 5A Division I state semifinals starting Thursday.
A quick preview of these matchups.
Class 5A Division I State Softball Championship
Aledo (30-10) vs. Barbers Hill (39-5)
Time/day: 4:00 p.m. Friday
Broadcast: NTX Varsity Sports
Site: Red & Charline McCombs Field, Austin (University of Texas)
Aledo’s playoff run: Beat Birdville in three games (bi-district); Beat Paschal in one game (area); Swept Lubbock Monterey (regional semifinal); Beat Abilene in one game (regional final); Beat Melissa in one game (state semifinal).
Notable: The Lady Cats are trying for the fourth state title in program history. They won titles in 2008, 2014 and 2015. This also their fifth appearance in the championship game…senior catcher Breleigh Mayer has had a huge postseason with five home runs nearly doubling her regular season total. She has 11 for the season…sophomore right-hander Tempe Perry threw 155 pitches in last week’s win over Melissa. She will face another imposing lineup in Barbers Hill, which is now ranked No. 3 in the nation according to Max Preps…senior leadoff hitter and shortstop Delaney Rosser has been on base five times between the regional final and state semifinal.
Baseball
Class 3A Division I State Semifinal
Boyd (37-3) vs. Iowa Park (33-5)
Best-of-3 Series at Graham, Boyd leads 1-0: Game 1 (Wednesday) – Boyd 4, Iowa Park 0; Game 2, 7:00 p.m. Friday; Game 3, 4:00 p.m. Saturday (if necessary).
Boyd’s playoff run: Beat Dallas Madison in one game (bi-district); swept Winnsboro (area); swept Tatum (regional semifinal); beat Gunter in three games (regional final).
Notable: This series started a day early because the Iowa Park softball team plays for the 3A Division I state championship on Thursday…Boyd won the opener thanks to junior right-hander Will McIntire’s complete game 5-hit shutout punctuated by 12 strikeouts. The Yellow Jackets are making their second straight appearance in the state semifinals and third in the last four years. This figures to be a great series because Iowa Park has quality starting pitching like Boyd has. Don’t be surprised if it goes three games. These two teams met in a Saturday non-district game on April 11. Boyd won, 10-0…the winner advances to the state title next Thursday to play either Huntington or London.
Class 3A Division II State Semifinal
Paradise (33-4) vs. Wall (29-8)
Best-of-3 Series at Hardin-Simmons University: Game 1, 7:00 p.m. Thursday; Game 2, 3:00 p.m. Friday; Game 3, 30 minutes after completion of Game 2 (if necessary).
Paradise playoff run: Swept Dallas Village Tech (bi-district); Swept Chisum (area); Swept Hooks (regional semifinal); Beat Bells in three games (regional final)
Notable: A historic run for the Panthers. This program has never played this deep into any baseball postseason. This is exactly what head coach Jeremy Fatheree wanted to do when he came to Wise County three years ago…before it lost the second game of its regional final series to Bells, Paradise had won 22 straight…this is a very deep pitching staff that led the way to the District 10-3A championship including a sweep of Highway 114 rival Boyd…the winner plays in the state title game next Thursday against either Franklin or Jourdanton.
Class 5A Division I State Semifinal
Aledo (36-3) vs. McKinney North (30-8)
Best-of-3 Series at Dallas Baptist: Game 1, 7:30 p.m. Thursday; Game 2, 5:00 p.m. Friday; Game 3, Noon Saturday
Aledo’s playoff run: Swept Denton Ryan (bi-district); swept Paschal (area); swept Amarillo (regional semifinal); swept El Paso Americas (regional final)
Notable: Aledo continues its push toward consecutive state titles…This is a rematch of last year’s state semifinal where Aledo swept with a pair of shutouts, 4-0 and 6-0…the Bearcats are 8-0 in the postseason and have outscored their first four playoff opponents, 54-13…McKinney North is going to have to dig deep from its pitching staff as Aledo can feature as many as eight different arms. Bearcat left-hander and LSU signee Lucas Nawrocki is 3-0 in the postseason and been equally tough at the plate. He belted a pair of home runs in the area playoff series win over Paschal…the winner plays in the state title game next Friday against either Montgomery Lake Creek or Leander Rouse.