By Kevin Lonnquist
NTX Varsity Sports Columnist
Dog pile after dog pile after dog pile.
The infield at Dell Diamond in Round Rock paid the price for such jubilation. These scenes never get old. They are the release from a season where countless behind-the-curtain work was performed, adjustments made, responding when struggles occurred and managing high expectations.
It started in January with workouts and then ran from late February through late April detailing the grind of the regular season to qualify for the postseason. It continued through a month-long playoff push in May culminating with the state championship the first week of June.
The NTX Varsity Sports Coverage area witnessed three dog pile celebrations last week at the UIL State Baseball tournament.
Between Thursday and Friday, Boyd, Paradise and Aledo earned the claim as the best in the state in its respective classification.
>Boyd captured its state title when it topped Corpus Christi London, 9-8, this past Thursday in the Class 3A Division I title game.
>Paradise made history. Making its first appearance, the Panthers easily handled Franklin, 9-0, in the Class 3A Division II title game.
>Aledo successfully repeated as Class 5A Division I state champions when it beat Montgomery Lake Creek, 3-1.
The combined record for these three was 116-11. That’s a mind-boggling winning percentage of .913.
There is also some significance to this. Boyd and Paradise shared District 10-3A and are archrivals. It’s known as the Battle of Highway 114. They met March 24 and 27. Paradise swept the series.
As for Aledo, Friday’s game was its last as a Class 5A school. It moves up to Class 6A when the 2026-27 athletic calendar begins on Aug. 1.
To recognize each, we provide a breakdown to each game.
Class 3A Division I State Championship
Boyd 9, Corpus Christi London 8
Boyd Record: 39-3
Boyd’s State Championship run: Beat Dallas Madison in one game (bi-district); swept Winnsboro (area); swept Tatum (regional semifinal); beat Gunter in three games (regional final); swept Iowa Park (state semifinal); defeated Corpus Christi London in state championship
History: The program’s second state championship. The first was in 2023.
MVP: Boyd 2B Keelan Clary, went 3-for-3 5RBI
Key moments: Clary’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth helped the Yellow Jackets regain the lead, 9-8. This followed the top of the sixth when London scored five runs to tie the game, 8-8….Colton Patton, who scored the go-ahead run, pitched the top of the seventh. He allowed a leadoff double, followed by an infield out to advance the tying run to third. However, Patton retired the final two batters to secure the victory.
Big Picture: Before the state championship, Boyd had advanced to the state semifinals in three of the previous four seasons. This is a program that has established itself as one of the premier entities in Texas.
Class 3A Division II State Championship
Paradise 9, Franklin 0
Paradise Record: 38-5
Paradise’s playoff run: Swept Dallas Village Tech (bi-district); swept Chisum (area); swept Hooks (regional semifinal); beat Bells in three games (regional final); beat Wall in three games (state semifinal); beat Franklin in state championship
History: The program’s first state championship. Previously, Paradise’s deepest playoff run was its regional semifinal appearance in 2025.
MVP: RHP Colton Walker 6IP 7H 0R 3BB 9K
Key moments: Jake Ryan’s two-run single in the third was the key hit in a three-run outburst. Paradise took a 3-0 lead…in six-run fourth inning that blew the game open (9-0), Ryan added another two-run single, Cash Lander and Carter Mara added RBI base hits. Two Franklin errors contributed to the rally.
Big Picture: As Paradise’s athletics program continues to make the climb, this state championship followed the boys basketball team winning the Class 3A Division II state title when it beat Palestine Westwood. Hopes remain galvanized that this Wise County program will be state championship caliber in several sports.
Class 5A Division I State Championship
Aledo 3, Montgomery Lake Creek 1
Aledo Record: 39-3
Aledo’s playoff run: Swept Denton Ryan (bi-district); swept Paschal (area); swept Amarillo (regional semifinal); swept El Paso Americas (regional final); swept McKinney North (state semifinal); beat Montgomery Lake Creek in state championship
History: This is the third state title. Aledo also won in 2025 and 2014
MVP: LHP Lucas Nawrocki 4 1/3 0H 0R 3BB 2K; 1-for-3 RBI
Key moments: Aledo took a 1-0 lead in the second on catcher Connor Whitmire’s RBI groundout…the Bearcats made it 3-0 with two more in the third via an error and a Nawrocki RBI single…Bearcat relievers Dane Brown and Garhett Love pitched the final 2 2/3 innings. Brown allowed a home run in the sixth. Pitching to the tying run in the seventh, Love sealed the victory with a swinging strikeout.
Big Picture: In addition to consecutive state titles, Aledo has won 16 consecutive postseason games. It won the last five to win the 2025 title. The Bearcats went 11-0 during the 2026 championship run. The Bearcats also have 15 players from this team moving on to play at the collegiate level between JUCO and Power Conference.
