Jacob Hadden leads Georgetown past Friendswood in 5A Texas (UIL) Baseball State Championship

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Georgetown’s Jacob Hadden had been nearly untouchable on the mound during the Class 5A UIL Baseball State Championship game against Friendswood on Saturday afternoon.

But with runners at the corners and the Mustangs’ down to their final out, Hadden faced his stickiest situation of the game with Georgetown’s one-run lead in serious jeopardy and the tying run 90 feet away from home plate.

Friendswood senior catcher Dylan Maxcey, a Texas Tech signee, broke for second base attempting to swipe a bag.

Hadden turned toward third, where he caught a Mustangs’ base runner caught in no-man’s land between third base and home plate. The Eagles’ senior pitcher fired a pick-off attempt to the hot corner, where senior third baseman Nicholas Silva made the game-clinching tag as Friendswood’s sophomore third baseman Ayden Pearcy dove back toward the bag.

The defensive highlight was one of many for the Eagles, who leaned on a complete-game effort by Hadden on the mound to beat Friendswood 2-1 in the 6A state championship game at Dell Diamond.

RELATED: Friendswood-Georgetown Box Score | 2022 UIL Baseball State Tournament brackets | Statewide Texas HS Scoreboard

The victory marks the first baseball state title in school history for Georgetown, which made its only other UIL Baseball State Tournament appearance in 2008.

Here are photos from Saturday's championship game:

All photos by Tommy Hays