The Lions secured their third straight TAPPS Division 5 state title Wednesday morning on a wild triple play to beat Shiner St. Paul, 3-2, in Arlington.

Down a run in the top of the seventh, St. Paul got two batters on board and in scoring position with no outs. The next batter hit a near-line drive to the shortstop area, but WCS’s Clayton Dukes was there for the diving catch, alertly throwing back to second to get that runner out, followed by a dart by Carter Guynes to Jaxon Foland for the third out at home. It was the walk-off win some movies are made of.

The Lions advanced to the title game with a win over Covenant Christian Tuesday, 7-5.

Weatherford Christian’s first title under Head Coach Clegg Smith came in 2019 when he took over. That team consisted of nine freshman, one sophomore and one junior.

COVID cancelled the 2020 tournament, but the Lions bounced back to win the state title last year.

It’s a sweet end to a sweet year in which two of this year’s seniors, Jaxon Foland and Logan Perkins, made school history as part of WCS’s first athletic signing class. Foland is attending Murray State College in Oklahoma and Logan Perkin will play for Wayland Baptist in Plainview.

The Lions end the season with an overall record of 25-4-3.