School may be out for the year, but here’s an analogy high school sports fans can relate to…Thanksgiving is to football like graduation is to baseball. If your favorite football or baseball team is practicing or playing after those calendar markers, chances are it’s been a very successful season.
It’s been a very long – and by that standard – a successful athletic year at Lake Travis, and Luke McBride has had a front row seat for almost all of it. After quarterbacking the football team well past Thanksgiving into the state semifinals, he’s helped the baseball team go one step further – extending the high school careers for he and his fellow graduates, who walked the stage on May 22.
While it is almost a requirement that the Lake Travis football team play beyond Thanksgiving, which falls during the 3rd round of the state playoffs, playing baseball after the school year ends is a much newer – and maybe more satisfying – accomplishment.
“Playing after graduation feels bigger due to the stakes and where we are in the playoffs,” McBride said after the Cavaliers swept Cedar Ridge to claim the regional title going on 2 weeks ago. “Playing at Thanksgiving is expected, and although we appreciate being there, round 3 of the playoffs in football feels like we are just getting started.”
McBride helped the Cavaliers do plenty of work after Thanksgiving, leading them to a regional title and a state semifinal appearance for the first time since 2021. While he’s proud of that achievement, he said what the baseball team did last year and then again this year, is bigger.
“Playing (baseball) after graduation is the state semifinals and/or finals,” he said. “We are now there for the 2nd year in a row and only the 4th time overall.”
He said that before the Cavaliers swept Humble Summer Creek in the semifinals to take a step the program had never taken before: getting to the state championship game. Three times before (2012, 2019, and 2025), the Cavaliers saw their season end in the semifinals.
And now?
“It’s like it’s a job for us, but it’s a job that you love to do,” McBride said. “It’s full-time now. It’s not just a half-job because you’re (going to) school. We love doing it and I love being with all of these guys.”
That they’ve extended their high school baseball playing days even further past graduation has given the team the chance to make more core memories together.
“Being able to stay after graduation with the guys is awesome,” Nelson Molina said. “We are family. I love it because we get to enjoy these moments with the guys.”
“It was our goal to be here at least one week after graduation, and now this is 2 weeks,” Yanu Molina said. “It just feels amazing to still be here, still practicing.”
Tomorrow, the Cavaliers take the field at Dell Diamond at noon against Keller, which needed 3 games to dispatch Rockwall and qualify.
According to the most recent (May 18) Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings, Keller ranked 3rd in the state; Lake Travis 5th.
Keller: 39-4-2, District 4-6A champion.
Lake Travis: 32-11-1, District 26-6A champion.
Keller:
Bi-District: Keller d Lake Ridge 2-0 (6-1, 4-0)
Area: Keller d Odessa Permian 2-0 (10-2, 9-1)
Regional Semifinals: Keller d Flower Mound 2-1 (6-7, 7-3, 3-0)
Regional Finals: Keller d Euless Trinity 2-0 (5-4, 8-7)
State Semifinals: Keller d Rockwall 2-1 (1-2, 4-0, 7-6)
Lake Travis:
Bi-District: Lake Travis d Westwood 2-0 (4-2, 19-1)
Area: Lake Travis d San Antonio Johnson 2-1 (1-2, 10-6, 12-4)
Regional Semifinals: Lake Travis d Laredo United South 2-1 (1-0, 0-2, 6-0)
Regional Finals: Lake Travis d Cedar Ridge 2-0 (3-2, 4-0)
State Semifinals: Lake Travis d Humble Summer Creek 2-0 (13-0, 9-2)
Keller: Cole Koeninger. The Tennessee signee and top 85 draft prospect according to both the ESPN and Perfect Game prospect rankings has been dominant all season and especially in the playoffs. He threw a 1-hit shutout with 16 strikeouts to win the deciding 3rd game against Flower Mound in the regional semifinal series and also threw a complete-game shutout to open the state semifinal series, holding Rockwall to just 2 hits with 8 strikeouts. His fastball hovers in the mid-90s and has touched 97 mph.
Lake Travis: Cooper Webb. The Texas signee has been Lake Travis’ game 1 starter throughout the playoffs. He’s gone 11-1 on the season and 4-1 in the playoffs (including 2 shutouts) with a 1.04 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 74 innings.
Lake Travis won a coin flip and will be the home team Saturday.
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