Lufkin wins the Little League Texas East 9-11 division.

During the coaches’ meeting before the Little League Texas East State Tournament, all of the coaches were given a bag of sunflower seeds.

Needville manager Coleman Todd elected not to eat his seeds just yet.

“I love sunflower seeds, and I went to eat them, but I told my family that we’re winning this deal and when we do, we’re all eating these seeds,” Todd said.

After Needville took an 8-4 win over Pearland East to win the Little League Texas East Major state title on Wednesday morning on Randy Womble Field at Faulkner Park, Todd gave some of the seeds to every member on the team, and they ate them together.

The win sends Needville to the Little League Majors Southwest Regional in Waco for the first time in history.

“This group as 9s were the first team to win district, and we won it again as 10s and came up here and actually fell short to Pearland up here two years ago,” Todd said.

Needville entered the state tournament with a perfect 9-0 record averaging 10.22 runs per game and allowing 1.22 runs per game.

After defeating Port Neches (5-0) and Washington County (2-0) in its first two games, Needville needed just one win on Wednesday to win the state title, while Pearland East would have to win two games. Pearland East lost its first game to Washington County (10-0) before defeating Port Neches (13-2) and Washington County (7-0) to get to Wednesday.

Needville starting pitcher Lucas Robbins allowed a leadoff single to Isaac Huerta before getting the next three batters out — two via strikeout.

Needville then scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Robbins had an RBI single, and Trenton Ross drove in a run with an RBI groundout.

Pearland East got a leadoff single from Jarrett Sills in the top of the second inning, and AJ Zimmerhanzel singled to give Pearland East two runners on with no outs. After a popout to third, Pearland East’s Hunter Gonzales hit a ball deep to center. Trenton Ross made the grab, and Sills tried to tag up and advance to third. Ross threw a perfect strike to third base for the third out.

Needville scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning to go up 8-0. Owen Ondruch and Jaydon Ortiz had RBI singles, and Angelo Aprea and Robbins both had RBI doubles.

Pearland East starter Oscar Medina was pulled after 1.2 innings. Sills came in and kept Needville off of the board the remainder of the game.

Pearland East got on the board in the third with four runs. Easton Ponce, Zimmerhanzel and Cadyn Estrada all had RBI singles, and Sills also drove in a run. Pearland East had the bases loaded with two outs, and Robbins struck out Jake Zurek to end the frame.

Robbins pitched 3.2 innings before hitting his pitch count limit. Ross came in from center and took over on the mound. Ross struck out three batters in the final 2.1 innings and allowed just one hit to close the game.

“Trenton has been very special for us,” Todd said. “He’s thrown the ball really well. He’s tough to hit. Hitters just don’t seem to like facing him, the big left with the flowing hair. They don’t like to see those guys. And Lucas is as good of a player as you could ask for. I tell everybody it’s really simple, players win games. We have great players, so they make the coaches look good.”

Following the final out, the players celebrated their achievement.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Robbins said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Now, Needville will head to Waco for the Southwest Regional, where the top two teams will advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

“We just have to keep winning, play hard and have fun,” Ross said.

Other team members for Needville are Kase Vacek, Cade Park, Carter Hedt, Jace Urbanek, Konnor Bittner, Cain Todd, Lincoln Wyatt and Hunter Bienek. Coaches are Todd, Mike Park and Al Aprea.

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Over on the next field, Lufkin closed out an 11-8 win over Pearland East as Carter May turned a game-ending double play at first base.

The win gave Lufkin the Texas East 9-11 division title. Lufkin had a 5-4 win over Pearland East and a 7-5 win over New Braunfels before Wednesday’s win.

Team members for Lufkin are May, Drew Larsen, Reece Fitzgerald, Kane Dugat, Ace Horan, Parker Petty, Caleb Terrazas, Ryder Sepulvado, Andrew Scrivener, Mason Thomason, Baylor Oliver, Eli Mijares and Adriel Diosdado.

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