Lovejoy baseball wins first state title, beats Mission Sharyland 7-2
Lovejoy's three-year climb ended in Round Rock, where a three-run first inning helped deliver a 7-2 win and the program's first state baseball crown.
Lovejoy finally turned a string of close calls into a championship, beating Mission Sharyland 7-2 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock to win the UIL Class 5A Division II state title. The victory gave the Leopards their first state baseball crown in program history and capped a run that had been building across three straight trips to the state tournament.
For Lovejoy High School, the win carried more than a trophy. It marked the payoff for a program that finished as state runner-up in 2024, reached the semifinal round in 2025 and then broke through in 2026. In a school district where athletics are part of the community’s identity, the title gave alumni, families and current players a first-ever state baseball banner to claim as their own.
The Leopards did not wait long to seize control. The championship game, pushed from Friday night to Saturday morning because of weather delays in Round Rock, opened with Lovejoy scoring three runs in the first inning. Lucas Smith’s RBI double helped ignite the start, and later a single by Carson Branch added to the early surge that put Mission Sharyland on its heels.
That burst mattered because Mission Sharyland came into the final with a 38-5 record and made its first UIL baseball state tournament appearance in 2026. Lovejoy, guided by coach Ryan Gros, answered that challenge with a complete season that ended at 33-6-1 and with the program’s biggest prize. The UIL’s official results list Lucas Lovejoy as the 5A Division II state champion over Mission Sharyland by the 7-2 final.
The individual honors matched the team result. Carson Branch was named the championship game’s most valuable player, while Tyler Scarborough and Lucas Smith also earned places on the UIL 5A Division II all-tournament team. That recognition underscored how central Lovejoy’s lineup and pitching were throughout the postseason, especially after the Leopards had spent two previous springs getting close without finishing the job.
For Lovejoy, the title stands as a milestone that reaches beyond one game in Round Rock. It is the first state baseball championship in school history, the latest proof of a program that kept climbing until it finally reached the top.
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