The third time was truly the charm for the Georgetown Eagles baseball team as the program defeated the Friendswood Mustangs from the Houston area 2-1 in the 2022 Class 5A State Championship Game on Saturday (June 11), Austin-based media outlets reported.
"Absolutely surreal!" head coach Jordon Vierra tweeted postgame. "The Boys in Blue did it!! Very few people fully understand what these young men have accomplished. The hours of work, the discipline, the dedication, the love for their teammates."
Vierra added in the tweet that his current crop of players "are the best to do it" in the team's history.
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported that the Eagles laid claim to their first state crown as the de facto home team, with Dell Diamond in Round Rock – which is 10 miles away from the campus of Georgetown High School (GHS) – having served as the venue for the tournament.
Jacob Hadden capped his prep career with not only a championship but tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors as well, KVUE reported.
"It's great to be state champs," Hadden told the station. "No. 1, baby. We don't quit. We fight to the end until the umpire says that's ball game."
According to Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, Hadden turned in a complete game (CG) by working the mound all seven innings.
He nipped a Friendswood bid to tie the contest in the seventh by picking off a Mustangs runner, KXAN reported.
“I just filled it up and let my defense work behind me and they did a great job backing me up," the hurler told the station.
KVUE reported that Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell announced blue lights will bathe the county courthouse in recognition of the victory.
To hear Vierra tell it, it's as if his program lifted a huge weight off its shoulders.
"We're tired of coming in second place," the skipper told KVUE. "And we had a conversation back in August with these guys about having every piece we needed to win a state championship in that clubhouse. And these guys, hats off to them and how hard they've worked and what they've been able to accomplish. We're so proud of them."