HOW SWEET IT IS!
Jasper - Class 3A Champions
By GEORGIA PURDY Newsboy Correspondent

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER SENIOR JAYLON CLOTIAUX, right, passes the Class 3A State baseball championship trophy to his teammates after the Bulldogs defeated Texarkana Liberty Eylau 14-4 Thursday, June 7 in Round Rock.

"It couldn't happen to a better group of kids," Coach Shawn Mixon said of the Bulldogs state baseball championship. "I was just along for the ride. They are the most unselfish group I've ever coached. With these guys, team always came before self."

Work ethic, the coaches say, is exceptionally strong with this group of players.

"When practice was over, they didn't go home," Mixon said. "They would still be on the field working to improve their skills. The spent a lot of their own time practicing."

Those fundamental skills and teamwork paid off game after game and was certainly evident when they took the field at Dell Diamond.

Twenty-five runs on 28 hits and 16 stolen bases against in the state tournament is quite a feat.

"Offensively, our big deal has been to hit if it's close. If its close, hit it as hard as you can," Mixon said. "If you've got two strikes, choke up on the bat and hit it hard."

Against fastball pitchers in both the semi-final and final games, the Bulldogs hit hard and hit often.

"We like the fastball," player John Bradley said. "Teams in our region know this. I expected two very close games and winning this big surprised me."

Jasper's defense did what it has done all season- taken away the opponents' hits and been aggressive on the bases. These are guys who play smart.

"Defensively, we tell them to get a base every pitch. Move up every pitch," Mixon said. "If they get thrown out, that's my fault. In fielding, make the routine plays that they are supposed to make. Our pitchers just try to get ahead of the hitters."

The road to the state championship was never easy. First, they had to get out of District 21-3A, not an easy task.

"I think the turning point for us was the loss to Hardin-Jefferson," Mixon said. "We got ourselves together after that. I think our guys just made up their minds that this wasn't going to happen again. They decided they were not going to allow anyone to beat them out of a state championship."

Winning the district championship didn't guarantee a thing because runner up Bridge City was lying in wait at the Region III final and the Cardinals were looking for a second consecutive trip to state.

The importance of that playoff series, nor the quality of teams in District 21 cannbe discounted and the players are sure of that.

"We faced a lot of tough teams to get here," Bradley said. "Coach Mixon kept telling us ours was the toughest district in the state and that Region III was also the toughest. Now we know that for sure."

There are no big names on this team- no big colleges standing in line to recruit them and no Major League draft picks. Assistant Coach Steve Smith said their sheer will to win propelled them.

"I've been coaching 14 years and these are not the very best athletes I've ever coached, but they have more heart than any group I've ever seen," Smith said. "They wanted to win and