This Paradise Panthers Sports Minute is brought to you by Lowery Metals
Paradise baseball’s historic season reaches its ultimate stage Thursday as the Panthers play for the Class 3A Division II state championship.
Paradise will face Franklin at 7 p.m. at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The Panthers enter the title game with a 37-5 record, while the Lions are 35-2-2.
The state championship appearance marks another milestone for a Paradise program that continues to rewrite its record book. Prior to last season’s run to the regional semifinals, no Panthers baseball team had ever advanced this far in the postseason.
Paradise earned its berth in the championship game by winning a hard-fought three-game state semifinal series against defending state champion Wall last week. The Panthers took the opener 5-0 on Thursday before dropping Game 2, 9-4, during Friday’s doubleheader. Paradise responded in the decisive third game, rallying for an 11-8 victory to secure its spot in Round Rock.
A full report on the state championship game will be available next week.
In other athletics news, Paradise has hired its next boys basketball coach. Barrett Ball, who spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach at Azle, has been selected to lead the Panthers program.
Ball replaces Bo Rickner, who departed for the head coaching position at Graford after guiding Paradise to the Class 3A Division II state championship this past season.