Sports

JoJo Weeks was named the UIL All-State 4A First Baseman for his stellar performance this season for the Wimberley Texans. Weeks hit .341 with four home runs, nine doubles, 36 RBI, scored 25 runs and walked 17 times. 

Weeks was also named the Most Valuable Player for 4A District 27. While he may have been named to the All State team for his prowess with the bat, his stats on the mound factored in to his MVP. 

Weeks had 5-1 record on the mound pitching 30 and one third innings on the season. His ERA was a miniscule .93 as he only allowed four runs to be scored all year. He also tallied more than a strikeout per inning pitched with 37 on the season. 

But it wasn’t just stats that made Weeks, who is just a junior and will return to play for the Texans next season, a standout player.

The Lady Texan 4x400 meter relay took third place at the UIL State Championship on Saturday.

“A lot of people talk about getting to state, and we said now that we are here lets not be happy about just being here,” Lady Texan Track Coach Lacey Lambert said. “Let’s do something special, and what a way it was to go out getting on the medal stand.”

It was no easy finish either. The Lady Texans knew if they ran their best race of the season they would have a shot to finish with a medal. Coming into the race, the girls had set the school record with a four minute mile relay. On Saturday, they knocked nearly five seconds off that time.

Senior Mikayla Sanders took her traditional spot as the first leg of the race. 

Lucas Snoe tossed a five inning shutout in the series clincher after Gavin Gonzales lead offensively in the series opener as the Wimberley Texans swept the Hondo Owls 10-0 and 9-3 to advance to the area round this weekend.

Wimberley (21-4-1) will now face Columbus in a best-of-three playoff series beginning in Wimberley.

The last two games of the series will be played in Columbus on Saturday.

“Our kids did a tremendous job on focusing on the task at hand and being prepared to play,” Texan head coach Dane Saucier said. “We were able to capitalize on some of the mistakes they made. Our guys just came out and took care of business.”

Cole Spillar took the mound in the opener and fanned nine Hondo batters in six strong innings for the Texans.

Gonzales had three RBIs in the opener as the Texans took full advantage of four Hondo defensive miscues.

McAllen - When the final horn sounded there were some tears but a handful of smiles as well from each and every Lady Texan soccer player on the turf at Veterans Stadium.

The best season of school history ended one game short of a state tournament appearance and many of the Lady Texans were trying to come to grips with what they had just accomplished.

Having seemingly snagged the momentum early in the first half and then again later in the second half, Wimberley put itself in prime position to pull off another huge upset over district champion Boerne in their regional final playoff match.

But the Lady Hounds, fresh off of winning the District 27 4-A regular title - including a pair of one-point wins over the Lady Texans - secured their state semi-final berth to Georgetown by tying the contest midway through the second half and then in again the waning moments. 

You would have to go back pretty early in the Major League Baseball record books to reference the last professional pitcher to accomplish what Wimberley’s Cole Spillar has already managed to accomplish in high school.

Spillar has certainly cemented himself into Wimberley baseball lore by completing his third no-hitter this season for the Texans and is on pace to single handedly re-write all of the UIL state baseball record books only 16 games into his junior season.

Equipped with a pitching arsenal that consists of a dazzling slider, an exploding fastball and a knee bending change-up, the lanky six-foot Spillar has twice been named PREPSTAR ELITE 360 ATHLETE OF THE WEEK and has also garnered attention from the Austin-American Statesman based solely on his first two no-hitters.

Both the Texan and Lady Texan track team came out on top in the Texan Relays last week. Winning the home meet was a nice stamp on what is turning into a great season on the track.

“We hadn’t really won our track meet very often in my 14 years of being here, but it sure made all the hard work worth it,” Head Coach Josh DeMarco said. “I was very proud of our kids.”

The Texans edged out a 138 to 115 win over San Marcos to take the meet by scoring points in all but two events.

The mile relay team of Cameron Kotek, Chris Hartman, Gavin Martinez and Kaycee Polanco took second place. Martinez and Polanco were joined by Sam Valadez and Hayden Krebs in the 4x200 meter relay, which took third.

Cameron Kotek took first place in the 110 meter hurdles with Kaden Kowalski taking third place. Kotek won the 300 meter hurdles.

The Lady Texans completed district play on Friday as they travelled to Bandera for their last scheduled game.

With second spot secured, one might be forgiven in thinking the team would ease up a little. That they did not, with the Lady Texans running away with an 11-0 victory. 

A first half hat-trick from the energetic Taylor Blass was complimented by a well taken brace from Serena Frank. Further goals from Leah Girard (2) and Madalyn Riser gave the team a convincing half time lead.

The second half saw Wimberley make several changes, including some positional shifts, allowing both Caroline Biggers and Ryland Maples to score in their more offensive second half roles.

Although No. 14 Texas will begin their postseason in familiar surroundings, they will face a team that could be a mirror image of themselves on a slightly smaller scale.

No.14-seeded Central Arkansas, the Southland Conference Tournament Champion, enters Friday afternoon's First Round matchup with a 17-game winning streak in tow.

The Sugar Bears and Longhorns meet for the first time, with tipoff set for 1:30 pm following the matchup between 6th-seeded North Carolina State and 11th-seeded Auburn.

Central Arkansas (25-4) won their second consecutive SLC title by steamrolling Stephen F. Austin 60-35 in the final on Sunday.

Texas, the prohibitive favorite to advance into next weekend's Sweet 16, hasn't played since March 5 after they lost to eventual Big 12 tournament champion West Virginia in the conference semi-finals 62-59.

The Wimberley Softball team is not only winning lots of games this year - they’re twinning.

Junior softball players Averie and Allie Messenger are identical twins and valuable assets to a team that has surged out to a sizzling start this season.

The Lady Texans are currently 11-3 and looking to secure a district title in what will be a very challenging league. 

Growing up, the Messenger twins didn’t know what positions they wanted to play or even if softball would be their go-to sport.

But as their skills have developed after becoming members of the National Tournament participant Dripping Springs Lady Redbugs as elementary school kids, the talented pair has blazed their own glory in excelling on the softball diamond.