AUSTIN, TX (FOX 44) — China Spring Baseball is king of the Texas 4A baseball landscape as the Cougars beat Texarkana Liberty-Eylau 3-2 in extra innings.

Cory Beckham’s team got off to a quick start in the contest, as Trevor Black ripped one all the way to the wall in left center for a two-run triple in the third inning to give China Spring an early 2-0 lead.

From there, the Leopards battled back, scoring a run in both the fifth and sixth inning to send the game into extra innings for a second straight night.

Early on in the extra session, it was Liberty-Eylau that had the best chance to score, as the Leopards put a runner on third with two outs in the eighth. JC Hughes came up clutch on the mound though, inducing a pop out to first to Cougars alive.

Then in the bottom of the 11th, it looked like China Spring first baseman Dean Hannah would walk the game off, as he laced one to center, but Aydan Easter made a nice play to run down the ball and keep the game moving into the 12th.

Then in the 12th, the Cougars loaded the bases with just a single out and a chance to win a state title. Leopard pitcher Richie Plant ultimately couldn’t find the zone on a 3-2 pitch, which allowed a game-winning run came across via a walk-off walk.

The state championship is the fifth in program history for the China Spring Baseball program, and the first since 2000.