In an eventful come-from-behind victory, the Bronco baseball team defeated Aledo High School 13-9 to advance to state. Entering the final inning, Legacy trailed 9-1. But 12 runs and a Powerade bath later, Coach Chris McMullen and the team earned Legacy’s first trip to the state tournament.
“Our approach [had] been good all series and things just hadn’t bounced our way today up until that [inning],” Coach McMullen said. “[We’re] absolutely fired up. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I think we’re just trying to enjoy this moment right now.”
Junior Parker Ibrahimi kickstarted the offensive explosion in the seventh inning with a solo home run to bring the score to 9-2. This marked Ibrahimi’s second home run of the day, his first coming in game two.
“[Winning] is a great feeling,” Ibrahimi said. “We’ve all worked pretty hard, so this feels pretty sweet.”
After Ibrahimi’s home run, the team didn’t look back. Senior first baseman and pitcher Kayden Voelkel rallied the team in the dugout and in the batter’s box.
“Parker’s lead off home run let something go,” Voelkel said. “It gave us the energy we needed and we just kept on stirring it up from there.”
Despite Legacy’s offensive power-comeback, the team needed to close out the game, and junior Dylan Schlaegel finished the job on the mound.
“After scoring 12 runs, I was just trusting my team at that point,” Schlaegel said. “We came back, so I knew we could hold down the fort.”
The team will play in the state tournament semifinals June 9 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. If they win, they will play June 11 in the state final.
“We just have a lot of heart,” Schlaegel said. “I think the entire time we held [ourselves] down emotionally we were able to sit right there and we’re not gonna let them beat us like that, and so now we’re as ready as you can be [for state].”
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