ROUND ROCK -- You'll have to forgive Kolten Rhoudes. He was just lost in the moment.

Rhoudes' single to deep center in the bottom of the fifth inning sealed Douglass' 10-0 win over Flatonia in Thursday morning's Class A state championship game at Dell Diamond.

Douglass’s Kolten Rhoudes delivers an RBI single in the fifth inning in the Class A state title game Thursday in Round Rock. Rhoudes’s single brought home the final run in a 10-0 run-rule win against Flatonia. (Travis Harsch, ETSN.fm)
Douglass’s Kolten Rhoudes delivers an RBI single in the fifth inning in the Class A state title game Thursday in Round Rock. Rhoudes’s single brought home the final run in a 10-0 run-rule win against Flatonia. (Travis Harsch, ETSN.fm)
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Everyone in Douglass' dugout knew they were state champs. Except Rhodes.

"I was on deck and I started running toward Kolten at second base and he had no clue that the game was over," said Douglass senior first baseman Bryce Westbrook. "And so he got kinda wide-eyed at me and he dodged me. But after he realized what was going on, we had a nice little dogpile."

The postgame celebration capped a most dominant championship run for Douglass (33-1), which outscored the opposition 377-34 on the season. The Indians pitching staff tossed 20 shutouts, including a string of 40 consecutive scoreless innings to conclude the season.

"Not even growing up, playing high school ball or college ball -- not as dominant as these guys," said Douglass coach Eugene Lafitte when asked if he'd ever been a part of a more dominant team. "I mean 33-1, that's pretty impressive in my book. It's unbelievable."

After coming short in the regional finals in each of the last three seasons, Douglass finally broke through for its first state tournament berth. But that wasn't enough.

"We came here meaning business and it just feels amazing, going out and doing the job that we started from Day 1," said senior Matthew Wallace, who tossed five shutout innings Thursday and was voted the championship game's Most Valuable Player.

Wallace struck out three and walked one on the mound and was 2-for-2 with an RBI at the plate for Douglass, which pounded out 13 hits, including a double and three triples.

Douglass second baseman Hunter Lee calls for the ball on an infield fly in the Class A state title game Thursday in Round Rock. The Indians run-ruled Flatonia 10-0 in five innings. (Travis Harsch, ETSN.fm)
Douglass second baseman Hunter Lee calls for the ball on an infield fly in the Class A state title game Thursday in Round Rock. The Indians run-ruled Flatonia 10-0 in five innings. (Travis Harsch, ETSN.fm)
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Grant Holland went 3-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored to lead Douglass offensively. Rhoudes was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Hunter Lee drove in three runs as part of a 2-for-2 day at the plate.

Westbrook led off the second inning with a triple down the left field line and scored on Lee's RBI single through the right side of the infield, which gave Douglass the early 1-0 lead.

The Indians added a pair of runs in the third on Lee's bases-loaded walk and an infield single off the bat of Trenton Carrigan. Douglass extended its lead to 5-0 in the fourth on Rhoudes' two-run single before ending the game with five runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Lee started the scoring with an RBI single, Holland laced a two-run triple to right-center, Wallace doubled to left to drive in a run and Rhoudes' single in between the Flatonia (23-7) center fielder and right fielder officially made the Douglass Indians state champions.

"It's pretty hard to put it into words," Lafitte said. "It's an awesome feeling not only for myself but for these young men. It will never be taken away from them and they'll always be state champions. I'm just proud of them."

Douglass receives its state championship trophy after a 10-0 run-rule win against Flatonia in the Class A state championship game Thursday in Round Rock. (Travis Harsch, ETSN.fm)
Douglass receives its state championship trophy after a 10-0 run-rule win against Flatonia in the Class A state championship game Thursday in Round Rock. (Travis Harsch, ETSN.fm)
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Douglass 10, Flatonia 0 (5 innings)

Class A State Championship Game

At Dell Diamond, Round Rock

Flatonia            000    00    --    0    3    1
Douglass          012    25    --  10  13    2

Pitchers and catchers
  • Flatonia: Marcus Mica, Nick Flores (4), Easton Migl (5) and Will Bruns.
  • Douglass: Matthew Wallace and Brandon Stanfield.

 

WP -- Wallace (11-1).
LP -- Mica (7-4).

 

Doubles
  • Douglass: Wallace.

 

Triples
  • Douglass: Grant Holland, Bryce Westbrook, Stanfield.

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