Gordon baseball team chases state title after tornado damages community

Gordon High School’s baseball team is playing in the fourth round of the UIL state playoffs - their first game since a tornado hit the Palo Pinto County community, destroying their practice facility and most of the team’s equipment.

NBC 5 joined the team in Stephenville, where the strength of their community and an unexpected gift are keeping the Longhorns’ season alive.

This has been the best baseball season 1A Gordon High School has ever had.

After winning the third round of the playoffs last weekend, the team headed home to prepare for its first-ever regional finals.

They came back to a community forever changed.

“Coming home and seeing all that, it’s horrible,” said junior left fielder Noah Kostiha. “I’ve lived in Gordon nearly all my life, my parents are raised around here too, and so it’s just the worst thing that could’ve happened.”

On Sunday night, an EF-1 tornado hit Gordon at full force, tearing homes apart.

The storm also destroyed the baseball team’s practice facility, taking all of their gear with it.

“And I mean there’s no words to describe it, just speechless to be honest with you,” said Gordon head baseball coach Ligon West. “We knew right then and there it was going to be a long road.”

The team joined in the community’s cleanup efforts, and lined up a place to practice for Thursday night’s game.

But they still needed thousands of dollars in equipment to be able to play.

Enter the Texas Rangers Foundation.

“It’s just unreal, unreal that we can be noticed by such a big organization,” said Kostiha.

After hearing the team’s story, North Texas’s big-league club donated hundreds of baseballs, four pitching machines, and all the bats and gloves Gordon’s players would need.

“It’s just so cool to see a professional group helping the lowest level of high school baseball,” said West. “That just goes to show, for me, the game, and how special the game is to some people, and honestly, how good Texans are, and how good people are to the core.”

On Thursday night, the team traveled to Stephenville, hitting the diamond for game one of the regional final in pursuit of their first-ever state championship.

Before the start of the game, fans came to their feet as opponent Perrin-Whitt High School presented Gordon’s team with a check to support their school’s recovery.

“Not many people get to do it, so it’s a gift, and we need to cherish that,” said Kostiha.

Gordon is a team and a town united on a mission that’s bigger than baseball.

“I hope to see our kids just have fun and compete,” said West. “And we talk about all the time, life’s not about baseball. There’s things far bigger in life than just the game.”