The Sharyland Rattlers are the last Valley team still alive in the high school baseball playoffs and the first team from the Valley to reach the state semifinal since 2019. They are set to face Kingwood Park in a best-of-three state semifinal series.

All three games will be played at North East Sports Park in San Antonio. Game 1 is set for Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. while Game 3, if necessary, would begin 30 minutes after Game 2 ends.

The winner advances to the state championship game on Friday, June 5 at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. No Valley baseball team has ever won a state championship, while four have made it to the state championship game: 1965 Brownsville High, 1974 Mercedes. 1986 Mercedes, and 2007 Harlingen South.

Players say the moment is not lost on them.

"Honestly something very special. We've been talking to the coaches and just the feeling of making history is an exciting feeling. But we just don't see an end to this so we're ready for the next round," Sharyland senior pitcher Sergio 'Cheko' Ibarra said.

"It's a dream. It's a dream to reach state. It's a dream. It's a thing that we, all my team we've been working towards that since we were 14," Sharyland senior first baseman Santiago Soto said.

"You say it's rare but that's what we work on at the end of the day. When we start in the fall until the season and everything, this is the goal," Sharyland senior catcher Luis Cienfuegos said.

The team knows the job is not done yet. Despite already making significant Valley history by winning a regional championship and securing at least the title of state semifinalist, they remain focused on the ultimate goal: becoming the only RGV team in history to win a state championship.

"I think it still hasn't hit us yet but we just gotta keep moving forward with this next series that's coming in. We feel great shutting Cedar Park down, but still gotta finish," Sharyland junior pitcher Rabath Vargas said.

"I'm really glad. I really believe in this team, but it's not over yet. We still got two more series to win and we're trying to make history, so the job's not finished," Sharyland senior pitcher Rogelio Rodriguez said.

Channel 5 Sports will have coverage on-air and online throughout the remainder of the Rattlers playoff run.