Regional final baseball: Aledo sweeps Americas, advances to state semifinals
In back-to-back seasons, Aledo baseball will appear in the state semifinals.
The Bearcats (37-3) defeated El Paso Americas (27-10-1) twice Thursday at Midland Legacy High School to sweep a UIL Texas high school baseball Class 5A Division I regional final series. Aledo seized a 3-2 Game 1 victory and ended the series with an 11-4 victory in Game 2.
After a drought lasting more than a decade since the program’s first title in 2014, Aledo won the Class 5A Division I state championship in 2025, and is now one step closer to the first repeat in program history.
Aledo will face McKinney North or Melissa at a time and place that is to be determined. The Bearcats are MaxPreps’ No. 23-ranked team nationwide. Leander Rouse, also in the Class 5A Division I bracket, holds a No. 20 ranking.
In Game 1, Aledo’s Landon Barnes gave his team a first inning lead with a two-run home run, and Luke Gladchuck extended the lead in the second inning with an RBI groundout.
Aledo did not score the rest of the way, but solid pitching helped maintain the lead. LSU pledge Lucas Nawrocki started, allowing three hits and one earned run in four innings. He struck out 10 batters.
Garrett love took over for Gladchuck and held the lead, allowing one hit and one earned run in a three inning save.
Game 2 was less competitive with Aledo’s offense on a roll. The Bearcats once again got off to a fast start with a three-run first inning. Barnes kicked off the scoring with an RBI double and sacrifice flies from Nawrocki and Dylan Duran padded the lead.
A second inning home run from Connor Whitmore gave Aledo a 4-0 lead. After a sacrifice fly from Americas, Aledo once again extended the lead by taking advantage of a pair of wild pitches.
Americas kept battling, plating a runner with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. At that point, the Bearcats broke open the game. Aledo’s Will Cayce brought home two with a single and an error gave Aledo an 8-2 lead.
The Bearcats were relentless, once again extending the lead in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly. The seventh inning saw Cayce continue a strong individual game with a two-run home run to give Aledo an eight run lead.
Aledo starting pitcher Luke Sandefur was dominant, allowing no hits. He gave up two runs, one of which was earned. He walked three and struck out seven batters. Dane Browne took over and allowed two earned run, but maintained Aledo’s solid lead to end the series.
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