The Panther Creek baseball team is where it has never been before in the playoffs. But it’s also where the team expected to be.

Panther Creek is in the 4A Division II state semifinals, after beating Aubrey 12-2 on Saturday in the decisive Game 3 of the best-of-3 series at Little Elm High School. Panther Creek (35-3), the Region 2 champion, will play Region 1 champ Brock (32-6) this week in a best-of-3 series that will send one team to next week’s UIL state championship game.

“This is where we wanted to be, where we thought we should be,” Panther Creek coach Larry Edgemon told the Frisco Enterprise. “We’re in the final four.”

Panther Creek’s best-of-3 state semifinal series will begin Thursday (schedule and tickets below). Panther Creek, which played its first varsity season just three years ago, is the third FISD baseball team to advance to the state semifinals in the last five years. Wakeland (2022) and Reedy (2023) were 5A state semifinalists, but didn’t advance to the finals.

Panther Creek will need to get by a Brock program that is making its ninth state semifinal appearance. All of Brock’s appearances, and its state title in 2006, came in Class 3A before it moved to 4A in 2024.

Panther Creek swept its first three playoff series this season, but after beating Aubrey 3-0 in Game 1 of the regional final series, the Panthers fell 4-3 in Game 2, forcing Saturday’s Game 3.

The game was tied 2-2 after three innings, but the Panther Creek offense then broke it open. After the Panthers loaded the bases, Cross Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly scored Ethan Priddy, who had singled to open the inning. Then came the home-run blast of Hunter Handley, stretching Panther Creek’s lead to 6-2.

Pitcher Aiden Icenhower, who entered the game in the bottom of the third after Aubrey had tied it at 2-2, pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief as the Panthers’ offense kept piling it on.

Good luck to the Panthers in the state semifinals!

4A Division II State Semifinal
Panther Creek vs. Brock
Game 1: 6 p.m. Thursday at Eagle Mountain High School (Tickets)
Game 2: 1 p.m. Friday at Weatherford College
Game 3: (if necessary) 6 p.m. Saturday at Eagle Mountain High School