Hours before graduation ceremony, Colleyville Heritage baseball takes down Aledo
It was a whirlwind of a day for seniors on the Colleyville Heritage High School baseball team.
Hours before their graduation ceremony, the Panthers faced No. 6 Aledo in game one of a UIL Class 5A Division I Region One Final at Birdville High School. Colleyville Heritage was able to send its seniors off on a high note and secured a 3-1 victory.
“Just a tough, close playoff game, and that’s what you expect this far in the playoff,” Colleyville Heritage head coach Chris McMullen said. “Nothing’s going to come easy, no one’s going to back down, no one’s going to quit, and you just got to keep playing the game. So it went about as expected, and we were fortunate to come up on the right side of it today.”
After the game, which had an early start time of 11 a.m., the seniors scurried to put on their caps and gowns for a 3:30 ceremony at the University of Texas Arlington College Park Center.
McMullen said it was a “once in a lifetime” special experience for his seniors.
“They’ll enjoy graduation a little more now with the win,” McMullen said. “It’s a cool experience. And that’s the reward of playing this late in the season. Graduation becomes a thing you’ve got to work around — it’s an award for getting this far. It’s an honor that we have to figure out a graduation plan. ... I couldn’t be more proud of the way they came out today and played really hard.”
At first, it was a classic pitchers duel with Colleyville Heritage senior Andrew Goodman and Aledo’s Grayson McKelvey going back and forth. Aledo scored the first run in the fifth inning — a single from Lucas Nawracki drove home Blake Burdine, who made an aggressive baserunning play and flashed some speed to beat the tag.
Colleyville Heritage then turned to senior relief pitcher Blake Sibley. Goodman finished the outing with one earned run in four innings. He conceded four hits and two walks and notched two strikeouts.
“Andrew Goodman really battled not having his best stuff but kept us right in the ball game,” McMullen said.
Panther catcher Logan Rose helped limit the damage, catching a bunt for an out and firing to second base for a double play. It was a key moment that flipped the momentum to Colleyville Heritage, and the Panthers quickly responded.
After a perfectly executed hit and run from senior Reagan Kelley, Torres tied the game on a groundout. Next, Rose gave the Panthers to lead with an RBI single. In the sixth inning, Kelley gave Colleyville Heritage some insurance with an RBI single.
Sibley was electric in relief, allowing zero earned runs and conceding one hit in three innings. He tallied four strikeouts; three of them came in the final frame. McMullen said he did a “fantastic job.”
McMullen credited Aledo and emphasized that the series is far from over. To put away the Bearcats, the Panthers will need to keep their foot on the gas.
“Aledo is a very good team and well coached,” McMullen said. “(Chad) Barry does a great job coaching those guys up. We’ve had a lot of battles over the years. It went as expected — we just caught a couple more breaks than they did. I thought they hit some balls pretty hard just right at our guys, but our guys did an unbelievable job of just staying with it.”
McMullen said he expects a dogfight tomorrow and added he’ll continue telling players to continue what has led them to the regional finals.
“We know what makes us good — not trying to do too much at the plate,” McMullen said. “Pass on to the next guy, and just having tough ABs. And so I think we’re doing a great job of that, just staying within ourselves. And we know what we have to do to win. We know what kind of our style of baseball is and what gives us the best chance of winning.”
McMullen emphasized the importance of a positive attitude even after mistakes. He added that perfection on the field isn’t a realistic goal. Mistakes will happen; it’s about how the team responds.
“We play loose, we play aggressive, we play with joy,” McMullen said. “And let’s see what happens.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 3:32 PM.
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