Aledo comeback, grand slam, puts the Bearcats in position to repeat as champions

If you talk to pretty much anyone on the Aledo baseball roster and ask about Lucas Nawrocki, almost every time the answer you’ll get is “he’s just a baseball player.” And a baseball player he is.

Nawrocki, an LSU signee, came up with what might be the most clutch hit of his life, blasting a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning to put Aledo ahead and the Bearcats held off McKinney North 7-6 in Game 2 of their Class 5A Division I state semifinal to sweep the series that was held at Horner Ballpark on the campus of Dallas Baptist University.

“Yeah, probably not,” said Nawrocki when asked if anything surpassed the slam as the biggest hit of his career. “That’s pretty big right there...to hit the go ahead grand slam in the state semifinals. He threw me a pair of sliders and got me on the first one, but I saw the second one really well out of his hand and I jumped on it.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone and all the emotions just started rolling. I felt like I had blacked out as I was running around the bases.”

Aledo (39-3) will be making its third trip to the state championship game will face the winner of the Montgomery Lake Creek (21-17)-Leander Rouse (38-6) series that is tied, one game a piece. The Bearcats have a chance to go back to back after taking the title last season.

Aledo’s other title came in 2014 in Class 4A. McKinney North (29-10-1) was trying to reach its first championship game.

Aledo might not have had a chance to win it late if not for Dane Browne who pitched three innings in relief of starter Luke Sandefur.

“Our infield and our outfield are really great guys, they’re all great and play really good defense for us out there,” said Browne, who tossed three innings of one-hit ball, allowing one earned run with a strikeout and a walk.” We’ve all been playing together since we were young, so we all have faith in each other and confidence in each other.”

Aledo trailed 4-0 heading to the top of the fifth when the Bearcats scratched across their first run. A one-out error on a ball to third by Kyle Poindexter, led to an infield hit by Will Cayce that scored Poindexter on an errant throw to first.

A two-base error on a ball to center field in the top of the sixth by Landon Barnes helped cut the lead to 4-2. Dylan Duran drove in Barnes with a sharp single to left.

McKinney North got a run back in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-2, but then the fun started for Aledo. The Bearcats loaded the bases with one out on walks to Jackson Loos and Wilson Sehnem, sandwiched around an infield single by Connor Whitmire.

Bulldogs’ starter Brooks Nelson was relieved in favor of Noah Gonzalez who promptly hit Luke Gladchuk to drive in a run. Nawrocki’s blast followed to give the Bearcats a 7-5 lead.

“They have no quit in them,” said Aledo coach Chad Barry of his Bearcat squad. “They’ve answered the bell every time they’ve been asked to, and I told them to just continue to keep playing. The bottom of our order kind of got it started, they found ways on base, and we got around to the middle of our order.

“Rocky did what he’s a cleanup hitter for, I mean, he got it. He got a good pitch, and hit it out for his ninth home run of the year, I think.”

Garhett Love came on to pitch the bottom of the seventh for Aledo and gave up a run, but the Bearcats turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

“State’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball,” said Nawrocki. “I’m glad I could go back-to-back for my senior year and finishing it out with the guys. We may have swept everybody we played, but it’s really a battle trying to get back there.”