How did Boyd capture its first Class 3A UIL baseball title?

The Boyd baseball team made the most of its first trip to the University Interscholastic League’s Class 3A state baseball tournament.

The Yellowjackets got a solid pitching performance out of junior Eric Rogers and some stellar defense before having to hold off Wall 6-4 for the title on Saturday at Dell Diamond.

Rogers (14-2), the championship game Most Valuable Player, tossed 5.2 innings of three-hit ball allowing one earned run with no walks and five strikeouts.

“This team has been a brotherhood all year,” said Rogers, a junior. “We’ve always been playing for each other. Never playing for yourself, playing for the guy behind you.

“I pitched lights out and it felt great, but that defense behind me with the diving plays that they were making, insane. I owe it all to them.”

Rogers got things rolling for Boyd (40-5) as the Yellowjackets built a 6-0 lead after five innings.

Rogers doubled to lead off the bottom of the second and was pinch ran for by Keelan Clary. Aidan LeMasters followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center, moving Clary to third where he scored an out later on a wild pitch to give Boyd a 1-0 lead.

Wall (35-7-1) was lucky the Yellowjackets only scored once in the bottom of the fourth after Hawks’ starter Augden Hallmark loaded the bases with two out. Hallmark hit Case Ferguson in the helmet to force in a run, his second hit batter of the inning, but got a fielder’s choice grounder to third to end the inning down 2-0.

Boyd broke it open with a four-run fifth. Jax Heid doubled to center field for an RBI, Rogers drove in a run with a RBI ground out to short, and LeMasters tripled over the head of Wall center fielder Hagyn Barbee to drive in another to highlight the frame.

Barbee took a hard-luck 0-for-3 at the plate. Boyd left fielder Morgan Cain made a terrific, diving catch to rob Barbee of a hit in the top of the second.

Yellowjacket center fielder Jake Thomas repeated the feat on Barbee in the top of the fifth, laying out to snag a liner off the bat of Barbee.

Wall’s Will Scherr broke up Rogers’ perfect game with an infield single to deep short in the top of the fifth, but things really got dicey for Boyd in the final two innings.

Rogers was forced to come out due to his pitch count for the week with two out in the sixth after allowing an RBI single to Caleb Braden. Rogers pitched the final two innings and got the win in a wild 8-7 victory over Maypearl on Friday in the semifinals.

Braden Burns relieved Rogers, but faced two batters without recording an out. Colton Patton came in and got the final out of the sixth to keep the 6-1 lead.

“Before the inning even started I told coach (Chasen) Starnes that this wasn’t going to be easy and that this will be the toughest three outs of our lives,” said Boyd coach Brad McIntire. “At the end it didn’t matter how many they scored as long as they didn’t score as many as us.

“We ran a lot of guys out there and had a lot of confidence in a lot of guys. It’s a total team effort and we made some great defensive plays. I knew it would work out for us.”

Patton started the seventh for the Yellowjackets and loaded the bases with a pair of hits and a walk. After recording a strikeout, a passed ball cut the lead to 6-2 and Kellan Oliver followed with a two-run double to cut the lead to 6-4.

Freshman Elijah Webber came on to relieve Patton and got a fielder’s choice grounder to short and a comebacker to end the game.

“I was just trying to stay as relaxed as possible and I knew that if they put a ball in play that my guys were going to field it,” said Webber. “Just keep myself relaxed and I’m pretty sure we’re going to win this one, baby. It feels amazing, there’s nothing like it.”

“It’s a special group and a really, really close knit group,” said McIntire. “A lot of these guys have played together for a long time. They’re fun to be around.

“They’re such a great group of kids and I’ve know a lot of them for some time. We’re going to miss our three seniors, but I’m sure happy that we sent them out on the right note.”