BULLARD – Bullard is having a history-making season on the baseball diamond.
The Panthers are in the state semifinals for the first time in program history.
“It’s been a special season,” Bullard head baseball coach Chad Sherman said. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think the good ones have far outweighed the bad. You have to give credit to our guys, winning two three-game series. We haven’t had an easy road, but our guys have been great.”
In the playoffs, Bullard has defeated Lumberton (4-0, 1-2, 12-1), Livingston (5-0, 3-2), China Spring (2-1, 8-6) and Huffman-Hargrave (5-0, 4-9, 6-4).
“We’ve been trying since sophomore year, and we thought we were going to get it done with the team we had, and we couldn’t quite get there,” senior Tannon Wynne said. “This year, beating China Spring like we haven’t done and then beating Huffman to get where we needed to be, it felt good.”
That win over China Spring meant a little more as the Cougars had eliminated the Panthers in the playoffs the previous two seasons.
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“We’ve been trying to do this,” senior Kage Korenek said. “We felt like we had a good squad our sophomore year. So sweeping them was a pretty good feeling.”
“We thought we were going to go our sophomore year and didn’t get it done,” senior Ty Rigsby said. “But this year, we finally got it done and we’ve got a chance to keep on playing. And especially to sweep them after what they’ve done to us the past two years, we finally got our get back.”
But this time, the Panthers not only got past China Spring, but also won a Game 3 with Huffman-Hargrave with a four-run sixth inning to take a 6-4 victory in the decisive game.
“We are all like brothers,” Rigsby said. “We all love each other and love playing baseball together, and we don’t want our season to end.”
Next up for Bullard (28-10) is No. 1 Corpus Christi Calallen (36-2) in a best-of-three series in the Class 4A Division 1 state semifinals at Buda Johnson High School. Game 1 is at 7 p.m. Friday. Game 2 is at 2 p.m. Saturday. Game 3 will follow, if necessary.
Calallen’s two losses came to Crosby (7-3 on Feb. 27) and Buda Hays (4-3 on March 6).
The Wildcats are in the state’s final four for the 14th time, winning four state titles since 2000. Calallen lost in the state championship game in 2024 before winning the Class 4A Division 1 crown last year.
Playing top competition will be nothing new for the Panthers. This season, Bullard has faced Class 6A regional finalist Tyler Legacy, wins over Class 6A playoff teams Stratford and Seven Lakes, four games against Class 5A playoff teams Mount Pleasant, Whitehouse and Midlothian Heritage, three wins over China Spring, a win over 2025 Class 4A Division 2 state champion Spring Hill and a win over Class 4A Division 1 state semifinalist Pleasant Grove.
“Coach Sherman said we were going to go through a gauntlet of teams,” Korenek said. “I think that only helped get us prepared for these moments. We played the best, so we know we can hang with the best.”
At the plate, Bullard is led by Ty Rigsby’s 46 hits (.447 average) with nine home runs, 10 doubles, five triples and 31 RBIs. Jackson Holt is hitting .306 with three home runs and 23 RBIs. Bryce Roberts is hitting .306 with 20 RBIs, and Kage Korenek is hitting .301 with 22 RBIs, and both have hit one home run.
On the mound, Korenek has struck out 100 batters with a 0.27 ERA in 77.2 innings. Ethan Foster has 93 strikeouts with a 2.62 ERA in 64 innings.
“On the mound, Kage and Ethan have been great,” Sherman said. “Evan Downing has stepped up. Jackson Holt hasn’t thrown as quite a smooch as last year, which is a good thing for us because he’s our shortstop. Kord Korenek, Gavin Skaggs and Gage Alderman had all plugged in and helped. We play really good defense. We’ve made less than an error a game, which in high school is pretty special. We find a way to get the big hit when it matters.”
Texas State commit Drayton Mitchell is hitting .524 with nine homeruns,12 doubles, five triples and 53 RBIs for Calallen. Wyatt Duke is hitting .390 with seven home runs and 44 RBIs. Jagger Batek is hitting .482 with six home runs and 347 RBIS. Drayson Gamez is a .570 hitter with a team-high 61 hits to go along with 48 RBIs and 54 runs. Reese Rusher is hitting .474 with 55 hits, 63 runs and 29 stolen bases.
On the mound, Mitchell is 12-0 with a 0.88 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. Collier Carroll is 10-1 with a 1.26 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 61.1 innings.
“Even as good as they are, I look at their roster, and they’re still young,” Sherman said. “They’re good baseball players, and they’re going to be well-coached. Coach (Steve) Chapman has been there a really long time, and he’s got a lot of wins.”
Chapman has 1,246 career wins as a head coach.
The winner will advance to face either Canyon West Plains or Pleasant Grove in the Class 4A Division 1 championship game at 9 a.m. June 5 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.