Valley Mills rallies to beat Shiner in 2A Texas (UIL) Baseball State Championship

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Valley Mills needed seven more outs to lock up the Class 2A UIL Baseball State Championship, but pitcher Kaleb Kuligowski knew his team was stuck in a sticky situation.

After the Eagles’ senior right-hander shifted to the mound from his starting spot in centerfield to start the fifth inning, Shiner quickly loaded the bases to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate.

In a lengthy and dramatic at-bat, Kuligowski froze the Comanches’ batter on a full count with a fastball on the outside edge of the plate for a called strike three.

RELATED: Shiner-Valley Mills Box Score | Class 2A UIL Baseball State Tournament bracket | Statewide Texas HS Scoreboard

That was the closest Kuligowski and the Eagles allowed Shiner to challenge their lead, as Valley Mills rallied to beat Shiner 4-2 in the 2A Texas (UIL) high school baseball state championship game Thursday afternoon at Dell Diamond.

The victory marks the first Class 2A UIL Baseball State Championship for Valley Mills since 1992 and represents the program’s fourth overall state title on the diamond.

“It was huge,” Kuligowski said of his strikeout to escape the bases-loaded jam. “I'm glad that we got to buckle down and do our job. This is expected of us in our program. We've wanted this, so we expected to win because we did our job. Everybody did their job and executed.”

“I don't care if they were undefeated, I knew we were gonna come out and play,” Valley Mills head coach Doug Shanafelt said. “They knew we were gonna come out and play, and we were gonna give them a good ball game. There was no scare and there's no fear, these guys just wanted it. They wanted to play and they wanted the ball.”

Kuligowski made crucial plays for the Eagles on the mound, at the plate and in the outfield defensively at critical junctures throughout the game.

After entering the contest as a relief pitcher for senior starter Cooper Ewing, who pitched the first four innings and final frame for Valley Mills, Kuligowski tossed two spotless innings of relief.

He surrendered one single and two walks, but struck out two Comanches and kept Shiner off the scoreboard to protect his team’s multi-run lead.

Ewing, who was rewarded with the win on the mound and the MVP award for the 2A state title game, struck out six and yielded three singles and a pair of runs through five innings pitched.

“That's what we've done all year is make big plays. They believe in themselves and the guy standing beside them as much as they believe in themselves,” Shanafelt said. “There was never any fear and there wasn't any break. They just wanted it.”

Kuligowski came through in the clutch offensively, too.

Sophomore shortstop Cason Johnson roped an RBI single to left field that scored the Eagles’ first run of the day.

In the ensuing at-bat, Kuligowski crushed a line drive into the gap in right-center field and slid head first into third with a two-run triple to break a 1-1 tie and give Valley Mills the lead for good.

“I knew as soon as we went and got those three runs, we'd be ahead the entire game,” Kuligowski said.

“It's like we're on a roll. We're on a freight train going all the way to victory town. It's awesome. As soon as one or two people get hits, the whole team is on fire because we have team chemistry like that. Everything gets us fired up, so when one good thing happens it leads to another one.”

The Eagles padded their lead with another run in the top of the fourth courtesy of a two-out rally and a costly error.

A single by sophomore catcher Elandis Taylor and a throwing error from third base placed runners at the corners for Valley Mills. That’s when Johnson legged out an infield single on a grounder hit sharply to second to prolong the inning and allow Taylor to score, pushing the lead to 4-1.

That insurance was also indicative of how well the Eagles were hitting in pressure situations throughout the game. As a team, Valley Mills hit 4-for-13 (.308) with runners on base and 4-for-12 with two outs.

The Comanches, however, surged back into the game during the bottom of the seventh inning.

Shiner’s comeback came to life after sophomore right fielder Kaidan Boothe’s leadoff single and a throwing error from first to third base plated a run for the Comanches.

That’s when Kuligowski made his most spectacular play of the day for Valley Mills.

The Eagles’ senior center fielder made a sensational diving catch on the run for the penultimate out after Shiner junior shortstop Ryan Peterson launched a deep fly ball over his head toward the batter’s eye and nearly to the warning track.

“That ball went a long way. I had run a track meet for that, but I'm glad I tracked it down,” he said. “I mean, we've been working on that in practice a lot. I've had a lot of practice doing that, and I was confident I could get it.”

The season-ending loss denied Shiner a shot at a perfect season and dropped the Comanches’ record to 34-1 overall.

Valley Mills, meanwhile, improved to 30-2-2 overall this year with the victory and ended the season on a 10-game winning streak.

“It's a great legacy. And that's what (Coach) Urban told them down there, ‘Set your legacy and win the state championship,’” Shanafelt said. “And we did. We did really great. We've just beaten an undefeated team.”

“It's a dream, I can’t even describe it right now,” Kuligowski said. “I mean, I've been dreaming about this all my life. There's nothing else to say. I'm just in shock.”

Here are photos from Thursday's championship game:

All photos by Tommy Hays