No. 3 Wall, No. 4 Paradise to Clash for Spot in State Baseball Final

ABILENE, TX — The No. 3-ranked Wall Hawks baseball team will have to get past No. 4 Paradise this weekend for a shot at defending its state title.

Wall and Paradise will meet in a three-game series in the Class 3A Division II semifinals that begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.

Game 2 is set for 3 p.m. Friday, with an if-necessary Game 3 to follow 30 minutes later.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Franklin is playing unranked Jourdanton.

Wall (31-8) and Paradise (34-4) are two of the state’s best teams this year, but their traditions are a bit different. Wall is a two-time state champion, and this is the Hawks’ fifth trip to the state semifinals, while Paradise is making its first-ever appearance.

The Panthers have been on quite a roll as they had won 22 in a row before Bells pushed them to a Game 3 last week in their regional final.

Wall has won 11 in a row, but the Hawks haven’t lost to a Class 3A team since this round last year when Boyd took Game 2 of the state semifinals.

If this matchup seems familiar, it’s because Wall’s girls basketball team beat Paradise in the state semifinals in February en route to their third state title in program history.

Wall is aiming for an incredible third state championship in a team sport this school year to go along with girls basketball and football. Other highlights include the boys track team and golf team finishing as the state runner-up, the volleyball team reaching the state semifinals and the girls cross country team taking fourth at state.

In addition, Wall tennis player Amelia Taylor won the state title in girls singles, while the girls doubles team of Ava Duncan and Evelyn Itz claimed the silver medals, and the duo of Kymbree Hirt and Ella Bowman finished in third.

All of those accomplishments have Wall on its way to winning the UIL Lone Star Cup, which measures a school’s overall performance in academic and athletic competitions. The only other time Wall won the prestigious award was in 2017.