Not the sky-high expectations that followed them throughout this season.
Not the season-ending injury suffered by star senior pitcher Alan Valenzuela in the Region IV semifinals.
And not an early 4-1 deficit against a Hooks team that entered the state final with an 11-0 playoff record.
Nothing.
The No. 1-ranked Eagles accomplished their mission Saturday at Dell Diamond, erupting for five runs in the third inning and getting 5 1/3 innings of shutout relief from Ricky Brenek to beat the Hornets 8-4 and give Rogers High School its first state title in a team sport.
“This is the prize of all prizes - it means everything,” senior right-hander Brenek (9-0) said as he wore his championship medal and held the plaque he received for being voted Most Valuable Player of the title game. “Playing with these guys all four years, this caps off the whole thing.
“There’s been some great groups that came through Rogers and none of us had been able to finish it off. It just feels great to finally bring one home to the town.”
Rogers outscored its playoff opponents 85-14 as it became only the second area school to win a state baseball championship, joining Belton’s Class 4A title team of 1994.
After watching his players celebrate a 36-2 season that included a perfect record against 2A competition, Rogers fourth-year coach Craig Coheley said he never doubted the Eagles would complete the goal they set when they lost in the 2006 state semifinals.
“When we left the hotel this morning I could tell they were coming to play by looking in their eyes,” said Coheley, whose club took advantage of eight hits, 10 walks and four Hooks errors. “One of the reasons you play sports is you always want a season to culminate with a championship, and we really believed in our hearts that we were going to win it.
“Coming into this season, we didn’t say we wanted to win 30 games or win district. We said, ‘We’re going to win state,’ and we poured every ounce of effort into it. That’s a tribute to our players.”
Senior catcher/pitcher Chris Joshlin embodied Rogers’ team-first attitude.
A .412 hitter when the state tournament began, he went 0-for-4 in Friday’s 9-2 semifinal win over Blanco and 0-for-3 Saturday. And after being the winning pitcher in the Eagles’ regional-title clincher for the second straight season, he allowed six hits and four runs in 1 2/3 innings as their starter against Hooks (29-9).
But after catching the final 5 1/3 innings from Brenek, Joshlin was as happy as any of his teammates.
“Ricky came in for me and shut ’em down, and he deserves to be MVP,” he said. “We won it all, and it’s a great feeling for me leaving high school on top. I can’t ask for more.”
Coming off Joshlin’s 4 1/3 shutout innings in a 3-2 win against No. 2 Trinity in the regional final, Coheley wanted him to give Rogers at least three solid innings before turning the ball over to Brenek and then possibly 13-0 junior ace and semifinal winner Taylor Jungmann.
That didn’t happen, but things worked out well anyway for the Eagles.
Rogers scored in the first inning for the eighth straight game, getting one run in the top of the frame against 13-1 Hooks senior left-hander Trey Simmons.
Brenek drew a leadoff walk, moved to second base on Braxton Byers’ sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a Joshlin groundout and scored on Marshall Coots’ line-drive single to right-center field.
However, the lead didn’t last long.
Leadoff batter Matt Riddle ripped a double to left, Jon Phillips walked and Brandon Choate singled to left to drive in Riddle for a 1-1 tie, with Phillips and Choate advancing one base each on an error by Chance Drake - Rogers’ lone fielding miscue.
Joshlin struck out Junior Willis with a big curveball for the first out, but Kyle Fisher singled through a drawn-in infield to drive in two runs and give the Hornets their first lead, 3-1. Joshlin got a groundout and a strikeout to escape.
Simmons walked Marcus Psencik and Chance Marek to begin the second but got Kory Michalka to hit into a double play and struck out Brenek to stop the rally.
Hooks pushed its lead to 4-1 in the second with three singles, including Choate’s two-out RBI hit to left. That led Coheley to have Brenek shed his catching gear, give it to Joshlin and take over for him on the mound. Brenek, who allowed two runs in the seventh against Blanco on Friday, struck out Willis to end the second.
Rogers’ offense exploded for a game-changing outburst in the third, using three hits, four walks and two errors against an ineffective Simmons and relievers Willis and Josh Stevens.
The Eagles had a man at second with two outs when Jungmann walked. Cameron Doskocil ripped a single to left to score courtesy runner Kenny Watson for a 4-2 game, and Psencik (2-for-3, two RBI) knocked a single to center to make it 4-3.
A walk to Marek loaded the bases, then No. 9 hitter Michalka - a senior third baseman who went 5-for-8 with two RBI in the tournament - singled to center to produce a 4-4 tie.
That chased the normally in-control Simmons (13-2).
“Normally, once he gets in a groove he settles in,” Hooks coach Michael Ruth said. “He just never could quite get settled in. It was just a bad time for him not to have his best stuff.”
Willis entered in relief but provided none, issuing bases-loaded walks to Brenek and Byers to hand the Eagles a 6-4 advantage.
Said Coheley: “In the middle innings they started to struggle with their pitching, and we sensed frustration on their part.”
Stevens, who had 13 strikeouts and threw 132 pitches in beating Pottsboro 6-2 Friday, came in and got a foulout to finally end it.
Brenek stymied Hooks the next three innings, and Rogers made the lead 8-4 in the sixth as the Hornets made two errors before Jungmann drew a bases-loaded walk and Psencik added an RBI single to right.
Brenek then benefited from great defensive plays in each of the last two innings.
Joshlin’s perfect strike to second caught Stevens stealing to end the sixth, then with Hooks down to its final out Choate doubled to right-center. But he overslid second base, and a Coots-to-Jungmann-to-Byers relay play resulted in a game- and season-ending tag.
The Eagles jumped into a celebratory pile near the mound as their fans went wild in the stands, then savored the moment as they received their medals and hoisted the title trophy.
And for good reason: Their mission was accomplished.
“I knew we had the talent, and after last year I told myself, ‘For the next year I’m going to work harder than ever,’ so this means a lot personally,” Coheley said. “Our fans have supported us throughout the playoffs and you can see this means something to them. Rogers is a very proud sports town and that showed today.”
Then he added with a grin: “We’ve got four starters back next year and I already like our chances.”
gwille@temple-telegram.com
