High School

Abbott holds off Fayetteville late to win Texas (UIL) 1A state baseball title

Sophomore Sustala checks in late, earns save in dramatic finish

Andy Buhler, SBLive Sports

ROUND ROCK, Texas — Sophomore Riley Sustala turned to his dugout and pumped his arms after striking out the final batter to clinch the Texas 1A state baseball championship for Abbott on Thursday at Dell Diamond. 

Sustala earned the save. He checked onto the bump with one out, runners on first and second and a one-run lead in the bottom of the final inning and the Panthers held on to beat Fayetteville 6-5.

Abbott led 5-0 until Fayetteville put three runs through in the bottom of the fifth on a Jaeger RBI single, then two sacrifice flies each drove in a run apiece.

Sullins went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Johnson went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Abbott. Fayetteville's offense was led by Lo Fritsch, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI, including a single to left field that drove in a run to pull the Lions within a run and put another in scoring position with one out.

Read the full story with interviews and highlight here.

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Andy Buhler, SBLive Sports
ANDY BUHLER, SBLIVE SPORTS

Andy Buhler is a Regional Editor of Texas and the national breaking news desk. He brings more than five years of experience covering high school sports across the state of Washington and beyond, where he covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason served on state tournament seeding committees. He works on the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a degree from Gonzaga and is based out of Portland, Oregon.

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