The game is deadlocked. The starting pitcher is winded and on the verge of giving up the go-ahead run.

Enter Shawn Tolleson.

Tolleson, who graduated from Allen in 2006, is a relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers.

After playing for Baylor University and being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 30th round of the 2010 amateur MLB draft, Tolleson is back in Texas. The Rangers selected him off waivers on Nov. 20, 2013.

“I’ve been with the Dodgers the last couple of years, and that was fun and that was great, but there’s really nothing like coming home and playing for the team that you grew up rooting for,” Tolleson said. “To go play a big league game and go home and sleep in my own bed, it [has] been fun so far.”

After leading Allen to the regional quarterfinals as a sophomore and the regional semifinals as a junior, Tolleson required Tommy John surgery, an elbow ligament surgery, which normally takes about a year to recover from, causing him to miss most of his senior season.

“It was hard. I had a lot of ambitions and hopes and dreams for that season,” Tolleson said. “But at the same time, it actually taught me a lot. Last season, at the very beginning of the season, I had a back surgery done, so without even knowing it, that process my senior year of high school really prepared me for that because I was able to accept what happened. I just had to work hard and do my physical therapy and just move on and work for the future which is this, playing for the Rangers, and I’m really excited.”

Due to the success that Allen has had in its athletics programs, Tolleson said that going to Allen is now a talking point amongst his fellow baseball players.

“It’s pretty cool because I play with guys from all over the country and actually all over the world and for those guys to know what high school I went to, it’s pretty crazy,” Tolleson said. “It’s really neat for people to have heard of where I went to school and how good our sports have been lately.”

With the amount of accolades that Allen sports have achieved in the past decade, Tolleson said that he hopes the baseball program is the next Allen sport to reach the top.

“I want them to win a state championship,” Tolleson said. “We’re still waiting on our first one there, so I think they’ve got the right coach to do it, so it’s just gonna be a matter of them putting the work in and playing better than the other team. That’s what I’d really like to see.”

Tolleson said he credits Allen High School for giving him the opportunities that he’s had.

“It brought a lot of college recruiters over to see me throw and professional scouts and just Allen being a big school, I had other talented guys playing with me so that helped a lot too,” Tolleson said.

Tolleson said that his time at Allen helped him reach his goals and prepared him for his life as a professional baseball player and person.

“Whether it was through baseball, whether it was through academics, the teachers, the principals, the coaches, all the staff at Allen, I’d just say that I’m extremely grateful for the experience I had there,” Tolleson said. “Those four years molded me into the man I am now, and I’m just very thankful for the city of Allen and Allen High School.”