District title races are heating up across the Rio Grande Valley high school baseball scene, but several teams have been a level above their competition thus far.
The district leaders in 32-4A, 30-5A, 31-5A, 32-5A, 31-6A and 32-6A all hold unbeaten records with no plans of relinquishing their strangleholds on the top spots.
At the Class 6A level, La Joya High sits 12-0 in District 31-6A with a two-game lead over the second-place PSJA High Bears.
In 32-6A, Harlingen High fended off Weslaco High on the road for a 21-8 victory Tuesday, improving to 8-0 in district.
Rio Grande City (7-0 in district), Sharyland Pioneer (8-0 in district) and Weslaco East (9-0 in district) lead districts 30-5A, 31-5A and 32-5A, respectively.
The Hidalgo Pirates have yet to lose in three District 32-4A games with a home bout against La Feria on deck at 6 p.m. Friday.
NOTABLE NIGHTS
Several performances stood out from Monday and Tuesday’s high school baseball action.
PSJA High sophomore Austin Flores allowed just one run in a complete game against Edinburg Vela for a 6-1 victory Tuesday. Flores fanned six batters to improve to 5-0 this season. The win puts the Bears a half-game ahead of the SaberCats in the District 31-6A standings.
Sharyland High’s Jorge Garcia went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and scored two runs during a 14-1 win in five innings over Valley View. The Rattlers are third in 31-5A with a 6-2 district record behind Pioneer and McAllen High.
Harlingen High pulled off an emphatic comeback by scoring 14 unanswered runs over the final three innings for a 21-8 victory against Weslaco High. Ethan Cepeda and Ricky Montelongo drove in five runs each. The District 32-6A leading Cardinals are now 14-6-1 overall.
McAllen High’s duo of Noah Villarreal and Ethan Whatley combined to drive in seven RBIs, as the Bulldogs beat rival McAllen Rowe Warriors 14-7 on Tuesday.
Weslaco East’s Anthony Balboa came through with a five-RBI day to lead the Wildcats past Brownsville Pace 13-1 in five innings Monday. East pitcher Alex Solis threw a one-hitter, striking out two batters over five innings.
LATEST STATE RANKS
La Joya High (12-0, 12-0) moved up one spot to No. 7 in the latest Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association (THSBCA) Class 6A Top 10 Poll, while the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks (22-1, 8-0) held firm at No. 2 in Class 5A for the fourth consecutive week.
Meanwhile, six RGV teams earned rankings in the latest Texas High School Baseball Diamond Pro Top 25 Polls.
Sharyland Pioneer leads the pack at No. 3 in Class 5A, with fellow District 31-5A foes McAllen High (18-4, 7-1) at No. 14, and Sharyland High (19-3, 6-2) at No. 22. Rio Grande City (11-3-1) broke back into the top 25 at No. 23 after defeating La Joya Palmview 2-0 on Friday.
La Joya is ranked No. 13 in Class 6A, while Hidalgo is up to No. 16 at the Class 4A level with an 11-1 overall record.