Sacred Heart Gets the Elusive State Championship in 7-3 Win over First Baptist Academy

TAPPS DIVISION 5 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Hallettsville Sacred Heart has been a familiar face at the TAPPS Baseball State Tournament but winning the state title has eluded them over the last 6 years.  This year they got solid pitching and timely hitting and benefitted from some free passes to win over First Baptist Academy 7-3 and capture the 2025 TAPPS Division 5 State Championship.

First Baptist got on the scoreboard in the top of the 1st. Preston Gough started the game off with a single and one out later scored on a throwing error.  Marc Gutierrez scored on a second throwing error in the inning to give First Baptist a 2-0 lead.

Sacred Heart responded with a couple of runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.  A Josh Terry single scored Ty Noska and Bowen Hawkins singled home Layne Sevcik to tie up the game.

After a scoreless 2nd inning, Sacred Heart put up 5 runs in the bottom of the 3rd, thanks to struggles on the mound for First Baptist.  Sacred Heart took advantage of 5 walks and 2 hit batters to take a 7-2 lead in the game.

Meanwhile, Charlie Shank was busy holding the First Baptist batters at bay.  After giving up 2 unearned runs in the 1st inning, he allowed only 4 baserunners through the next 4.1 innings before being lifted because of pitch count limit.  Shank was limited on pitches for the game after pitching 1.2 innings the night before and picking up the save in the semifinal game for Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart carried the 7-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th when First Baptist made a threat.  With two outs they loaded the bases They scored 1 run on a bases loaded walk. Josh Terry then entered the game as the next relief pitcher  With the tying run at the plate, Terry got the strike on three pitches to secure the Sacred Heart win and the State Championship victory.

Charlie Shank was named the THSB Championship Game MVP.  Shank’s line on the day was 5.2 IP, 4 Hits, 2 Unearned Runs, 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.

“I was a little nervous out there today,” Shank explained.  “But I didn’t know I was starting until this morning, so that helped.  Usually when I am on the mound, I just think about getting outs.  Either getting strikeouts or pitching to contact and letting my defense work.  I’m really happy about winning the state championship.  But I’m also sad for the seniors, I am going to miss them.”

“I am so proud of these guys,” Head Coach Mark Noska commented.  “They have been working hard and they beat a heckuva team today.  We take it for granted that we are going to get here to the tournament but it is great to win the championship and get that monkey off of our back.  And Shank was fantastic today.  We were just hoping to get an inning or two out of him but he did a great job out there.”