Big hits, errors and missed opportunities plagued the Rangers in their attempt to bring home the program’s first state title.
SAN ANTONIO — Just months after the Smithson Valley Rangers football team won the program’s first state championship, the baseball team tried to end the school year with their first title as well.
The Rangers put together a solid season where they went 27-12 before the championship game against a dominant Aledo team who went 31-8 in the regular season.
Regardless of record, Smithson Valley won the coin toss and earned the home team designation for the 2025 UIL 5A-D1 Baseball State Championship.
Aledo got on the board first after Lucas Nawrocki ripped the ball into right field with two outs in the top of the first, making the score 1-0.
The Rangers responded in the bottom of the first after Bryce Wells had a “anything you can do I can do better” rip into right field for an RBI single to tie it up 1-1.
The Bearcats added another run in the second inning after a collision at first base gave them extra life to hit a dribbler up the middle before the runner made a great slide at home to take the lead 2-1.
Both pitchers settled down in the middle innings as zero runs were scored again until the top of the fifth when Aledo’s Luke Gladchuk hit a triple over the head of the right fielder for the game’s first extra-base hit.
Gladchuk was brought in two batters later when Nawrocki got his third hit of the game on a two-out RBI triple to left-center field, extending Aledo’s lead 3-1.
Nawracki was brought in after the next batter legged out a ground ball to short, making the game 4-1 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Smithson Valley got the first two batters of the half-inning on base before bringing the potential tying run up to the plate with no outs. A dribbler that just barely stayed in fair play got the bases loaded for the Rangers.
The very next batter hit a ground ball to short who got the out at second base but was not in time to get the runner at first, which would’ve brought in another run.
But seconds after the umpire made the safe call at first, another field umpire called interference on the runner sliding into second which took a run off the board and sent the game into the sixth with runners stranded in scoring position for Smithson Valley.
Aledo hit their third triple of the night off the top of the wall, bringing in another insurance RBI before going into the bottom of the sixth, 5-1.
A few errors by Smithson Valley in the top of the seventh loaded the bases with no outs before the Rangers’ closer slipped during a pitch, leading to a balk and another run for Aledo.
A bases clearing triple for the Bearcats extended the lead 8-1 before heading into the top of the seventh.
The Rangers got on base with a leadoff walk but saw the next three batters get retired to end the game, making Aledo a State Champion for the second time in the school’s history.