The Sharyland Rattlers are one win away from becoming the only Rio Grande Valley team ever to win a state championship in high school baseball.

The Rattlers will face the Lovejoy Leopards on Friday for the 5A Division II crown. First pitch is at 7:00 p.m. at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Channel 5 News joined the team at practice as they prepare for the biggest game in school history. It marks the first state championship appearance ever for Sharyland and the fifth for any team in The Valley history.

The Rattlers are coming off a sweep of Kingwood Park in the state semifinals.

Lovejoy is no easy opponent. The Leopards finished the regular season 33-6-1 and are 10-1 in the playoffs so far. They score more than six runs per game and allow just two in the postseason. This is their third straight year reaching at least the final four. They lost the state championship game in 2024 to Grapevine and lost to Grapevine again last year in the state semifinal. They beat Argyle to reach this year's final.

Sharyland baseball head coach Austin Bickerton said the team has done its homework on the Leopards.

"They're a really good team. They have a lot of talent. Their one and two arms are pretty good. They're there for a reason but so are we. We're very confident in our team, we didn't get here by luck. They gotta beat us too," Bickerton said.

Senior outfielder Nic Valdez said the Rattlers plan to stick to what got them here.

"Lovejoy, they're a great team, they're obviously always at the top. They have good pitching, but we've been watching film on them and we're just gonna play our game," Valdez said.

Junior outfielder Diego Chapa said the team is not intimidated.

"We're not scared or nothing like that. They're a good team, but so are we. We're here for a reason," Chapa said.

The players say they have felt the support from across the Valley heading into Friday's game.

"The whole Valley has been supporting us. I've seen it on social media, we've been everywhere. That's not stopping us from winning more games," junior second baseman Luis Balderas said.

"The last few days have been amazing. Just coming back and seeing the flags all over the place at the school, the drawings on the windows supporting us," Sharyland sophomore pitcher Milo Villarreal said.

Channel 5 News will have live coverage from Round Rock on Friday night.