Matt Wixon

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ROUND ROCK – After Plano West won the 5A state baseball championship Saturday, players sneaked up behind coach Kendall Clark with the water cooler. In the baking afternoon heat, the dousing provided some nice relief.

But nothing like the relief Clark and his players felt after beating Southlake Carroll, 10-8, at Dell Diamond.

"It might be a long time until we get another group like this; maybe never," Clark said. "But we didn't waste it."

Plano West maximized it with a lineup of dangerous hitters from spots one to nine. Plano West piled up 18 hits, hit five home runs and scored 21 runs in two state tournament games.

"We knew hitting was going to be the team's strength," Clark said.

But focus and resiliency were other strengths, and they showed in the championship.

Carroll rallied for six runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-5 lead, as Plano West committed three errors, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Carroll also had four hits to help put Plano West in the rare position of playing from behind.

"We definitely felt the momentum switching," Plano West senior shortstop Harrison Holmes said. "But after winning 39 games coming into this, we were confident that we could come back."

Plano West was confident all season, and it had reason to be. By the middle of April, it had risen to No. 1 in the state coaches' poll, and its only loss had come in a doubleheader against Carroll. That loss was erased when Carroll had to forfeit for using an ineligible player, leaving Plano West undefeated and with a big target on its chest.

"With our record, everyone was gunning for us," senior outfielder Jason Coats said. "Now that we got that last win of the season, it silences the doubters."

Doubters for a 39-win team? Seriously?

Well, maybe it was because baseball success is fairly new to Plano West. This was the school's first state appearance in baseball, and just two years ago, Plano West had never made the playoffs.

That made Saturday's victory even sweeter for Plano West, which became the first North Texas team to win a UIL state baseball title since 2002. Plano West (40-2) is also the first area 5A winner since 1993.

"The players were great about staying focused all season. We just took it one game at a time," Clark said. "Even last night, there was not one word about a state championship."

Not until the last inning, Clark said, did he realize how close the team was to the title. That's when it started sinking in for the players, too.

"For the final two outs, I had chills," Holmes said.

In the scorching heat, that's pretty amazing. But so was Plano West's season.

Plano West opened in 1999, but it already has 11 state championships:

Plano West's last five baseball seasons: