Overton headed to state championship with thrilling game three win

Published 7:22 pm Thursday, May 29, 2025

HUNTSVILLE — For the first time in school history, Overton (31-8) is headed to the state baseball championships. The Mustangs prevailed 4-1 over the Burton Panthers in game three of their best-of-three Class 2A Division II state semifinal series on Thursday night. They took game one, 8-5, on Wednesday and bounced back from a 6-0 loss in game two earlier on Thursday afternoon.

“Game two, we came out a little flat. Truthfully, I didn’t feel like we were fully ready,” said Overton’s head coach Chris Cook during the post-game celebrations. “We took game one and I was afraid that what would happen was that we were going to come in and expect to win game two, just because we won game one. It kind of showed a little bit. But game three, I told them it’s win or go home. Who’s the better team? And they came out and, defensively, they were lights out. All night.”

Burton’s top pitcher Tyler Witt was in solid form for game two, allowing the Mustangs just three hits and handing them their first shutout loss of the season. Game three, the Mustangs got one on the board in the bottom of the second after Bryce Still doubled and later scored on a wild pitch. Four innings later, the Mustangs’ fielding and steady pitching by Landon Hill had held the Panthers to zero runs to maintain that precarious one-run lead.

The Mustangs made the most of a turning point in the sixth inning with singles by Brody Brown and Braxton Harper and an inside-the-park home run by Still. That gave them some much needed insurance for the final inning, where the Panthers got two singles and a run before a fly out to Overton’s Jayden Edwards in left field ended the game.

That inside-the-park homer run was Still’s second in the postseason. He hit a solo one in game one of their regional final against Beckville last week.

“I was just going in and having the confidence to go at bat,” explained Still about what was going through his mind before that game changing hit. “And knowing I’m in a big spot. And I knew all my teammates had faith in me, and it’s just great to see.”

Braxton Harper faced a high-pressure moment coming in as the closer for Hill in that final inning. He handled it by relying on his experience and cutting out all distractions.

“It was a lot of pressure on me and I just came in and got it done. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I was ready to go. I knew I could do it,” said Harper. “We’ve all been doing it since we were real young. We know we’ve got it.”

“We just came together really at the end,” said third baseman Brody Brown. “Bryce had the clutch hit, but overall through the series, we played well as a team.”

Brown said he could nitpick things about his personal performance that he wished he could’ve done better, but that’s how he feels after most games even when they win.

“Always could have done better, but always happy to be going to state. Never going to be mad about that,” he laughed. “It’s an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A lot of teams don’t get to do it.”

This long baseball season has meant that a longtime, core group of players get to stick together as a team just a little longer.

“We graduated last week and it’s just been practices being out of school. It’s just super fun, finishing out this last year with my best friends. Hopefully finishing with a ring,” said Harper. “The starting nine has been playing together since we were four years old.”

“We were always just striving for this moment, right here,” said Still.

“Words can’t even describe how excited and proud I am of these players and to be able to go on this journey with them,” said Cook.

Hill recorded four strikeouts, four walks and allowed four hits in his six innings in the circle. Harper struck out one, walked one and allowed one hit closing. Leading the Mustangs at the plate in game three was Still with his two hits and three RBI, Edwards with a double and single and Mason Rowe with two singles. Brown, Rylan Holleman, Joey Zalman and Harper each had a hit.

Witt singled twice for Burton and Coy Gurka, Matt Roemer and Isaac Matthies each had a hit. Ryder Biggs struck out four, walked one and allowed 10 hits in six innings.

Witt struck out three and walked four pitching in game two and had a triple and single at the plate. Eli Jaeger was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Biggs tripled and single and scored three times.

Still pitched 6.2 innings for Overton in game two, recording two strikeouts, two walks and giving up eight hits. Bryson Bobbitt, Holleman and Edwards each singled at the plate.

The Mustangs will get the next few days off to reset before it’s back to work on Monday. The Class 2A Division II State Championship game will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday, June 5 at Dell Diamond Stadium in Round Rock. Their opponent will be the Collinsville Pirates (30-4) who took down Stamford in a doubleheader on Thursday.