Paradise baseball clobbers Franklin in shutout to claim state championship
Paradise baseball capitalized on its first ever state title game appearance in the Class 3A Division II state championship Thursday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
The Paradise Panthers (38-5) seized a dominant 9-0 win over Franklin (35-3-2) in a shutout to claim the state title. Paradise’s offense put up three runs to take a lead in the third inning and jumped out to a massive lead in the fourth inning with six more runs.
Paradise starting pitcher Colton Walker was extremely efficient, surrendering seven hits and no earned runs in six innings.
Leading the way offensively was Jake Ryan, who went 2-4 at the plate and recorded a team high four RBIs. Carter Maya also registered a multi hit game for Paradise.
The Panthers were disciplined at the plate, drawing nine walks. Thriving in that department was Hogan Henderson, who drew a team high three walks.
Franklin, searching for its second state title after winning in 2024, registered eight hits in the contest, one more than Paradise. The walks and seven Franklin errors doomed the Lions; Franklin’s Dylan Stallones and Walker Anderson threw the majority of the game (6 1/3 innings combined) and gave up six unearned runs.
This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 10:40 PM.
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