ROUND ROCK — The Clifton Cubs advanced to the 3A state championship game for the first time in school history.
The Cubs beat Georgetown Gateway Prep. 5-2 thanks, in large part, to a four-run rally in the fourth inning.
"I don't know, we started seeing the ball," Clifton junior 2B Jackson Phillips said. "I don't know what happened, we just broke it open."
Mason Brandenberger led the inning off with a triple to left field, which coach Brain Slater said started a snowball effect.
"(Mason's) been the spark in the playoffs, ever since we moved him to leadoff," Slater said after the game. "He gives our team a lot of confidence and once he got that first hit, it just snowballed for us."
Brandenberger's hit was the Cubs' first, as they failed to reach by either hit or walk in each of the first three innings.
Following the triple, Riley Perry reached on a catcher interference call before Edgar Rodriguez loaded the bases.
Jackson Phillips started the scoring with two outs on a two-run single to left. An error on a ball hit to third base from Fisher Pitts brought in two more runs. Rodriguez capped off the Cubs' scoring with an RBI triple in the 5th inning.
Carter Guinn got the win, pitching a complete game allowing only two earned runs.
"They were a great hitting team," Guinn said. "It was hard to keep them from hitting it, I just tried my best to keep the ball out of the air."
They will play Beckville Junior/Senior High School, which beat and Brock High School 4-0 in the second semi-final game. The game will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
"We've got one more left," Slater said. "It's exciting that we won this one, but we came here to win it all. We're going to go, sit in the shade and find a way to win one more game."
This is the first trip to state in the baseball program's history. A win Saturday would be the school's first state championship in any sport.
"It's so exciting," senior 1st baseman and pitcher Fisher Pitts said Thursday afternoon. "To be the first team to ever make it to state from Clifton is one of the best things that's ever happened to me."
The game had the town buzzing.
The city held a parade Thurday afternoon with hundreds of Cubs fans lining the streets.
"It's pure excitement," Babri Ernst, who's son played Center Field for the Cubs on Friday, said. "There's people who haven't been to a Clifton game in 15 years that are coming out to watch the Cubs compete this week."
Clifton coach Brian Slater added, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these guys. They put in a lot of hard work to get to this point, so I'm extremely excited for them."