District 26-6A gets the better of 25-6A teams to start UIL softball playoffs

District 26-6A softball teams went 5-2 in their bi-district playoff matchups with District 25-5A, as Bowie swept Stony Point, Dripping Springs swept Round Rock, and Lake Travis beat Vista Ridge in a one-game playoff. Cedar Ridge — the 25-5A champion that's also state and nationally ranked — swept Johnson.

Lake Travis edges Vista Ridge: The Cavaliers won 5-3 as Julie Rodriguez scattered six hits and struck out seven and Maddie Pinzon stroked a three-run home run.

Bowie sweeps Stony Point: Bowie rolled to a 13-2 Game 1 win in five innings as Alyssa Lusk had four hits and scored three runs and catcher Anya German drove in five runs with a double and a homer and was walked twice, once with the bases loaded.

Around Class 5A: lots of sweeps

There were several first-round sweeps around the Austin area. Georgetown, Elgin, East View and Bastrop won their bi-district series, all one-game matchups, while District 25-5A had a solid showing as well: Liberty Hill swept Seguin and Leander swept San Antonio Veteran's Memorial. Hays lost the opening game of its series with Kerrville Tivy but came back to win the next two to advance.

Rouse, which lost two of its top players in the final week of the regular season, upset state-ranked Smithson Valley 2-1 in the first game of their best-of-three series, but the Rangers came back to eliminate the Raiders with 3-0 and 4-2 wins.

A record series win: Georgetown exploded for 12 runs in the first inning and added seven more in the second to claim a 19-0, three-inning, run rule-shortened win over Eastside Early College. Cambree Creager pitched one inning, striking out three to give her 550 career strikeouts while Maddie Hartley stroked her record breaking 35th career home run.

Liberty Hill sweeps: Liberty Hill beat Seguin 18-6 behind Rylee Slimp's six RBIs and the Panthers edged Seguin 11-10 to close the series.

No-no for Elgin: Elgin’s Jessica Cantrell pitched a no-hitter, striking out 17, to lead the Ladycats past McCallum 11-2. Cantrell has 268 strikeouts this season against only 30 walks. Emily Sumner had two hits and three RBIs and Bianca Galindo hammered a two-run home run.

East View tops Crockett 14-1: Izzy Andana had two hits, including a grand slam, and drove in five runs while Bella Guajardo had three hits and scored three runs for East View. Madison Rose added a two-run homer for the Patriots.

Around Class 4A: Llano, Wimberley eliminated

Burnet won the first game of its best-of-three series with Gatesville, then Gatesville tied it up by taking the second, but then the Bulldogs hammered Gatesville 17-4 in the third game to advance. Wimberley, however, lost its three-game series with Gonzalez, and once-beaten Salado swept Jarrell.

Smithville, La Grange, Giddings and Caldwell all run-ruled their Houston-area opponents. State-ranked Llano, meanwhile, was shocked by Merkel in two games.

Gateway College Prep sweeps: Gateway College Prep swept China Spring 3-2 in eight innings and then 8-0, improving to 23-6-2. Chloe Ellis had 36 strikeouts in the two games, including 19 in the eight-inning opener. She allowed only three hits in the two games.

Smithville wallops Washington: Addison Otto pitched a three-inning shutout, striking out all nine batters, as Smithville blanked Houston Washington 21-0. Otto hit a grand slam while Raini Stanley had three hits and Claire Kennon had an inside-the-park home run.

Around Class 2A: Thrall, Thorndale move on

In Class 2A, Thrall edged Johnson City in three games, each one decided by a single run. And Thorndale run-ruled Mason twice.

This week's area playoffs

Wednesday

Class 5A — (1) San Antonio Southwest at Liberty Hill, 6 p.m. (best-of-three)

Thursday

Class 6A — (1) Cibolo Steele at Cedar Ridge, 6 p.m. (best-of-three); (1) Dripping Springs at Schertz Clemens, 6 p.m. (best-of-three); (1) Bowie vs. San Antonio East Central, 7 p.m. at Wimberley (best-of-three)

Class 5A — (1) East View vs. College Station, 5 p.m. at Navasota (best-of-three); (1) Elgin vs. Belton, 6 p.m. at Glenn (best-of-three); (2) Liberty Hill at San Antonio Southwest, 6 p.m. (best-of-three)

Friday

Class 6A — (2) Schertz Clemens at Dripping Springs, 5 p.m. (best-of-three); (2) Cedar Ridge at Cibolo Steele, 6 p.m. (best-of-three); (2) Bowie vs. San Antonio East Central, 7 p.m. at Wimberley (best-of-three); (3) Schertz Clemens at Dripping Springs, 7:30 p.m. (if needed)

Class 5A — (2) Elgin vs. Lake Belton, 5 p.m. at Glenn (best-of-three); (2) College Station at East View, 5 p.m. (best-of-three); Georgetown vs. A&M Consolidated, 7 p.m. at Caldwell (one game); (3) Liberty Hill vs. San Antonio Southwest, 6 p.m. at San Marcos (if needed); (3) Elgin vs. Lake Belton, 7 p.m. at Glenn (if needed); (3) College Station at East View, 7 p.m. (if needed)

Saturday

Class 6A — (3) Cedar Ridge vs. Cibolo Steele, 11 a.m. at Wimberley (if needed); (3) Bowie vs. San Antonio East Central, noon at Wimberley (if needed)

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin-area high school softball teams move on to area playoff round