By Michael Adams
madmas@onthesidelinessports.com

The 2024 Texas high school baseball season is in full swing as several district races already heating up.

District 25-6A is this year’s “District of Doom” for baseball. As customary in most sports, two-third of the teams in the district are evenly matched. Cedar Ridge and Vandegrift are the two hottest teams in the district with each on a four-game winning streak. The Raiders will have their hands full with Westwood this week, while Vandegrift plays a two-game series with last-place Manor.

Another hyper-competitive district is 25-5A. Hays is out to an early lead and has won three-straight games. Upstart Lehman is also off to a great start and have won their last three. Rouse, Liberty Hill, Cedar Park and Leander are also contenders.

Here are five games we are watching this week:

Game of the Week

Round Rock (9-9) vs. Stony Point (9-11)

7 p.m., Tuesday at Round Rock; 7 p.m., Friday at Stony Point

Expect a lot of runs scored in this series. While the 26-6A season is just getting underway, Stony Point and Round Rock are two of the best offensive teams at the plate in the district. The two teams have a combined 189 runs scored so far this season.  In district, the Tigers have scored 26, while the Dragons have 21 runs scored. Stony Point is looking to snap a four-game skid. Round Rock, on the other hand, brings a four-game winning streak into this two-game series.

Four series we’re watching

Rouse (15-4-1) vs. Liberty Hill (13-2-2)

7 p.m., Tuesday at Liberty Hill ; 7 p.m., Friday at Rouse

Both teams are unbeaten in the early District 25-5A season.

Westwood (12-4-1) vs Cedar Ridge (14-5)

7 p.m., Tuesday at Cedar Ridge; 7 p.m., Friday at Westwood

The Raiders are currently unbeaten in district play, while Westwood is in a cluster of teams separated by one game.

Dripping Springs (12-7) vs. Buda Johnson (10-10-1)

7 p.m., Tuesday at Johnson; 7 p.m., Friday at Dripping Springs

A key series that will likely have playoff implications later in the district season.

Lake Travis (15-8-1) at Cedar Park (11-4)

1 p.m., Saturday

It may be a non-district matchup, but this single game features long-time rivals off to great starts.

Rankings

Each week for the remainder of the regular season, On the Sidelines Sports will rank the top five baseball teams in the Greater Austin Metro Area by classification. Here are the weekly rankings for March 18.

Class 6A

1. San Marcos (18-3)

2. Westwood (13-3)

3. Lake Travis (15-8-1)

4. Bowie (15-5)

5. Cedar Ridge (14-5)

Class 5A

1. Hays (13-3)

2. Rouse (14-4-1)

3. Liberty Hill (13-2-2)

4. Cedar Park (11-4)

5. Georgetown (7-9-1)

Class 4A

1. Thorndale (11-1-1)

2. Lago Vista (9-2-1)

3. Thrall (9-4-1)

4. Manor New Tech (7-4-1)

5. Bartlett (7-6)