High school softball update: Anderson on a hot streak; Vista Ridge's Brooke Wells honored

Diamond dust

In District 25-5A, Leander’s SJ Geurin was in control in the circle last week as the Oklahoma University recruit no-hit Cedar Park in a 10-0 win while collecting two hits, including a home run and two RBIs. Geurin then two-hit Rouse in a 5-0 win with eight strikeouts. Marley Neises had two hits with a triple and three RBIs against Cedar Park while Madalyn Strader had two hits with a triple and also drove in three runs. Meagan Lee had three hits in the win. Strader had three more hits while Catelyn Beckerley had two hits with a double and a home run in the win over Rouse. Georgetown kept pace by beating Glenn 15-3 and Marble Falls 19-1. Madison Hartley homered while Isa Torres had a pair of doubles in the Eagles' win over Glenn.

District 26-6A had an impressive week as Lake Travis beat Westlake 13-5 and San Marcos 5-1 while Hays edged Bowie. Hays captured first place in the league standings by beating Bowie 5-1 despite two hits each by Alyssa Lusk and Taylor Haywood for the Bulldogs. Akins edged San Marcos 10-7. Hays leads district by a game over Lake Travis with Bowie in third as the teams prepare for second round action.

More: High school softball update: Bowie's Olivia Moreno player of the week; Thorndale red hot

Vista Ridge blanked Stony Point 8-0 in District 25-6A action while Cedar Ridge shut out McNeil 7-0. First place Round Rock blanked Vandegrift 4-0 as Maddy Azua homered and pitched a 13-strikeout two-hitter. Samantha Wunsch pitched well in the defeat for Vandegrift. Offensively, Round Rock was led by Azua, Brantley Lavas and Meghan Merwick. Azua scattered three hits and struck out nine as Round Rock beat Stony Point 11-0 in six innings. Vista Ridge blanked Hutto 7-0 as Mikala Ham fired a no-hitter while Brooke Wells singled, doubled and homered in the victory.

In District 26-5A, Dripping Springs edged Boerne Champion 3-2 as Erika Kanetzky had three hits. Taylor Anderson added two hits for the Tigers as Haiden Anderson pitched the complete game win, striking out seven and walking none.

Anderson got four hits by Lila Harrell and three hits each from Brooke Lonsdale and Leti Paiz to beat Crockett 19-8 in a District 17-5A matchup. Paiz scored five runs and drove in three runs while Harrell added three RBIs. Paiz scored four more runs as Anderson beat McCallum 16-1 in four innings using a 10-run second inning to control the game. Paiz, Harrell, Emily Castro and April Cartwright each had two hits in the victory.

Pflugerville scored 12 runs in the top of the first inning and cruised past Connally 18-1 in District 18-5A play as Delilah Robles fired a one-hitter and struck out seven in three innings. Zyniah Reese had three RBIs with a pair of hits while Abby Lemmons drove in three more runs with two hits of her own. Emma Holmes had a triple for the Panthers collecting two hits and scoring twice. Weiss beat Manor 13-2. Elgin is red hot as the Wildcats have won 12 consecutive games, including a 10-0 win over Hendrickson. Elgin beat Bastrop 5-0 as Jaylan Roberson had three hits and Jessica Cantrell earned the pitching win. Manor beat Bastrop 8-5 while Cedar Creek beat Connally 17-1.

More: Maddy Azua leads Round Rock softball past Vista Ridge

La Grange is back on track as the former state champions scored in the eighth inning to hand Smithville its first district loss 6-5. La Grange leads District 20-4A at 4-0 while Smithville drops to 3-1.

Taylor had a dramatic 3-2 win over Burnet as sophomore pitchers Lindsay O’Dell of Taylor and Kyleigh Mott of Burnet matched arms. O’Dell struck out 15 and held Burnet to two hits while Mott fanned two and allowed seven hits with each pitcher allowing just one earned run. Kayleigh Page had three hits and drove in two runs for the victorious Ducks.

Thorndale traveled to Hallettsville on Friday for a nondistrict matchup against TAPPS defending state champion Sacred Heart. Two Thorndale pitchers combined for the shutout win. Pitchers Emilee Baker and Karis Ginn combined for the shutout with Ginn striking out five over six innings and Baker notching the final three outs. Offensively, Raeghan Carlson drove in five runs with three hits, including two doubles and a home run as the junior went 3-for-3. Baker added three hits, including a triple while scoring three runs as she stays on a hot streak with 13 hits in her last 16 at bats for a two-week average of .812. Bailee Baker had three hits and an RBI while Natalie Garcia had four RBIs on two hits. Kelsey Kovar collected two hits and three RBIs.

Hyde Park is back on the winning track as the Panthers improved to 22-2 with two more victories. Hyde Park beat San Antonio TMI 6-2 then beat IDEA Montopolis 9-2 as freshman catcher Cariana Stout went 3-for-5 with two walks, a pair of doubles, four RBIs and threw out three base stealers. Stout is hitting .553 on the season with eight triples.

State polls

Georgetown and Leander sit at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively in the Texas Girls Coaches Association Class 5A state poll and are the two highest ranked Austin-area teams. Class 2A Thorndale and Class 4A Taylor both edged into the top 10 at No. 9 in their respective classifications. In Class 6A, Round Rock (11), Hays (12), Lake Travis (14), Vista Ridge (16) and Bowie (20) make up the area's ranked teams. In Class 5A, Elgin is No. 14 and Dripping Springs is up to No. 18. Smithville (15) and La Grange (19) are the other two Class 4A squads. Blanco is No. 15 in Class 3A.

Player of the week

Brooke Wells, sophomore, Vista Ridge: Wells had six hits in seven at-bats last week with three home runs and pitched a no-hitter as the Rangers blanked McNeil 14-0. Wells had four hits, including two home runs and four RBIs against McNeil and had two hits with a home run and two RBIs in a win over Stony Point. Wells is hitting .533 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs.

Team of the week

Anderson: The Trojans improved to 8-0 in district play by beating Crockett 19-8 and McCallum 16-1. Sophomore April Cartwright pitched the win over Crockett while freshman Brooke Lonsdale earned the McCallum victory. Anderson has won 10 of its last 12 games and is 14-7 on the season.

Games to watch

Tuesday

Lake Travis at Hays, 7 p.m.

Elgin at Pflugerville, 7 p.m.

Taylor at Salado, 7 p.m.

Butch Hart, American-Statesman correspondent

Please submit scores, stats, news, notes and player of the week nominations to Butch Hart at ejhartvb@yahoo.com. Nominations for the player of the week are due each Sunday at 5 p.m.

Fab Fives

Class 6A

1. Round Rock 14-5

2. Hays 13-5

3. Vista Ridge 14-4-1

4. Lake Travis 16-4

5. Bowie 13-6

Class 5A

1. Leander 15-5

2. Georgetown 20-2

3. Elgin 14-3

4. Dripping Springs 18-7

5. Anderson 14-7

Class 4A and others

1. Hyde Park 22-2

2. Thorndale 16-6

3. La Grange 11-10

4. Smithville 17-4-1

5. Taylor 12-3

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Vista Ridge softball's Brooke Wells has breakout week for Rangers