There were plenty of changes heading into the new season for the Buda Johnson Baseball Jaguars. For starters, there’s a new guy running the show as Austin Yager has replaced Mark Durham at the helm of the Jags.
Then there’s the new district where, after a couple of seasons butting heads with the likes of Westlake, Lake Travis and Dripping Springs in an overloaded District 26-6A, the UIL sent the Jags south. Johnson now marks the northern border of District 29-6A where San Marcos is the only other vaguely Austin-area team they face. The rest of the squads are either from the New Braunfels area (New Braunfels, Schertz Clemens, Cibolo Steele) or San Antonio itself, (East Central and Converse Judson).
But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: the Jags are once again having a solid year that should see them battling in the postseason. Johnson can take a couple of big steps towards that goal when they clash with the Converse Judson Rockets in this week’s VYPE Series Spotlight.
Johnson (15-6, 4-3) enters the series still in the hunt for a district just a game and a half back of league-leading Clemens, and one of five teams currently battling for the four playoff spots. Mason Alaniz and Ricky Montijo form a senior battery to anchor the pitching, joined by the only other senior starter Thomas Schnable in the outfield. With a host of talented underclassmen around them, the Jags may be even stronger in 2026 but no one’s looking ahead right now.
Coach Diego Patino’s Judson squad returns a lot of talent from last year’s team but have struggled to score runs thus far this season. The Rockets enter this series at just 3-17 overall and winless (0-7) in district play.
Game 1 will be tomorrow (4/8) from Johnson High School before the series moves to the Judson High School Baseball Field on Friday (4/11). VYPE Live will broadcast both games, courtesy of the Johnson Baseball program.
What: Buda Johnson vs. Converse Judson
When: Tuesday 4/8 and Friday 4/11 (6:45 Pregame, 7:00 First Pitch)
Where: Johnson HS & Judson HS
Who: Sam Kamen
Watch:https://www.vype.com/ AND http://vypelive.com/web/broadcast/index
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THE POWER RANKINGS: Liberty Hill, Cedar Ridge creep closer to Johnson in Austin area Softball chart
07 Apr, 2025
If you’re looking for clarity, you’re in the wrong place.
Oh, sure, we’re keeping Buda Johnson at the top. While the Lady Jags lost a game last week, they lost to a good 17-8 6A Clemens team and that’s good enough to (barely) keep them ahead of surging 5A Liberty Hill – for now. But we’re watching them both closely, along with the rest of the Top 5.
Most of the week’s circular firing squad action came in District 26-6A. Bowie took it on the chin twice, albeit it in close games to ranked opponents Del Valle and Dripping Springs. As a result, the Lady Tigers stepped over the Lady Dawgs, as did Cedar Ridge, Georgetown and the aforementioned Liberty Hill. Meanwhile, Stony Point, Del Valle, Lake Travis and Leander treaded water; the first two pairing wins over ranked teams with losses to different ranked teams which prevented them from moving up.
Bastrop keeps climbing and now sits just outside our Top 10. And this week, it’s Rouse’s turn to crack the Rankings. Can they stay there, or will they be Whack-A-Moled out?
It looks like Mother Nature is gonna play nice this week, so we’ll see if things clear up any before next week’s poll. With all of these good teams beating each other up, consider me skeptical.
VYPE's Austin Softball Rankings
1. (1) Buda Johnson Lady Jaguars (6A) 18-4-1 (Def. La Vernia; L @ Clemens)
2. (3) Liberty Hill (5A) 18-4-1 (Def. Lockhart; Def. Glenn)
3. (4) Cedar Ridge Lady Raiders (6A) 14-3 (Def. Manor; Def. #7 Stony Point; Def. Vandegrift)
4. (5) Georgetown Lady Eagles (5A) 17-8-1 (Def. #14 East View; Def. Elgin)
5. (6) Dripping Springs (6A) 19-6-1 (Def. #15 Austin High; Def. #2 Bowie)
6. (2) Bowie (6A) 14-6 (L vs. #8 Del Valle; L @ #6 Dripping Springs)
7. (7) Stony Point Lady Tigers (6A) 16-5-1 (L @ #4 Cedar Ridge; Def. #12 Round Rock)
8. (8) Del Valle (6A) 14-4-1 (Def. #2 Bowie; L vs. #9 Lake Travis)
9. (9) Lake Travis Lady Cavaliers (6A) 15-8-1 (Def. #8 Del Valle)
10. (10) Leander Lady Lions (5A) 16-8 (Def. Cedar Park)
11. (13) Bastrop Lady Bears (5A) 15-6-1 (Def. Cedar Creek; Def. Navarro; Def. Austin LASA)
12. (12) Round Rock Lady Dragons (6A) 11-8 (L @ Hutto; L vs. #7 Stony Point)
13. (11) Westlake Lady Chaparrals (6A) 11-10 (L @ Akins; Def. #15 Austin High)
14. (14) East View Lady Patriots (5A) 14-7 (L vs. #5 Georgetown; Def. Pflugerville)
15. (NR) Rouse Lady Raiders (5A) 13-9-2 (Def. Hays; L @ Cedar Park)
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