ABBOTT, Texas (KXXV) — The Abbott Panthers are once again back in the state tournament after finding momentum in the postseason.
"The funnest part, for a coach leading this group has to watch has been to watch them become a team," Abbott head baseball coach, Kyle Crawford, said.
"We've played more games at Dell Diamond than we have in the first round of the playoffs in our high school career. So, it's just another baseball game, but it is a big deal," third baseman and center fielder Mason Hejl said.
The Panthers have been here before as they took home the state trophy last year. While the team lost veteran leaders, they have grown into their own.
"From the start of the season, now it's like completely different team in the best way possible," center fielder and pitcher, Max Stalker, said.
"When you go two years in a row, I don't wanna say it's expected, but it's expected to go back. It's the expectation around here even when you haven't been," Hejl said.
With the semi-finals fast approaching, Abbott's goal remains the same when they get to the Dell Diamond.
"Simple baseball wins this time of the year. We've done that lately. So the on field, the play, the recipe has been laid out for us the past few weeks. But the mission is go try to bring a state championship back to Abbott and that's it," Crawford said.
"I always say there's two types of teams. One that's happy to be there and one that's going to win a state championship and we're going there to win the state championship, because we're gonna go make history and be the first to go back to back," Stalker said.
The 1A semi-finals begins on Wednesday, June 5th. First pitch begins at 9 a.m.
