HOUSTON - No matter the competition, be it rock-paper-scissors, lifting weights, or a cross-fit challenge-type course, which included who could flip a monster truck tire the fastest in 15 yards; Colton Cowser and Ty Madden would go at it in high school.

"It was a best-of-three competition and the way they got after it you couldn't tell if it was Game 7 of the World Series or just a competition day in the fall," Cypress Ranch coach Corey Cephus said. "They're such good friends that they try and out-compete each other, outwork each other. It helps each of them get better. They love to compete."

That competitive spirit of the former Cy Ranch Mustangs has carried into the college level, Madden excelling at Texas, helping lead the Longhorns to the College World Series this spring, and Cowser at Sam Houston, and now it will head to the next level come Sunday.

Madden and Cowser are the projected No. 9 and No. 10 overall prospects in the 2021 MLB Draft and in the latest MLB Mock Draft, Madden is projected to be a Top 10 pick going No. 8 overall to the Angels.

"He was an exceptional high school pitcher and he just continued to improve," Cephus said. "The things he didn't like in high school he worked at it. He was inconsistent at strike-throwing and got better at it, his secondary pitches, he got better at it. His mentality on the mound of I'm going to be a force, he just continued to improve."