There were plenty of changes heading into the new season for the Buda Johnson Baseball Jaguars. For starters, there’s a new guy running the show as Austin Yager has replaced Mark Durham at the helm of the Jags.
Then there’s the new district where, after a couple of seasons butting heads with the likes of Westlake, Lake Travis and Dripping Springs in an overloaded District 26-6A, the UIL sent the Jags south. Johnson now marks the northern border of District 29-6A where San Marcos is the only other vaguely Austin-area team they face. The rest of the squads are either from the New Braunfels area (New Braunfels, Schertz Clemens, Cibolo Steele) or San Antonio itself, (East Central and Converse Judson).
But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: the Jags are once again having a solid year that should see them battling in the postseason. Johnson can take a couple of big steps towards that goal when they clash with the Converse Judson Rockets in this week’s VYPE Series Spotlight.
Johnson (15-6, 4-3) enters the series still in the hunt for a district just a game and a half back of league-leading Clemens, and one of five teams currently battling for the four playoff spots. Mason Alaniz and Ricky Montijo form a senior battery to anchor the pitching, joined by the only other senior starter Thomas Schnable in the outfield. With a host of talented underclassmen around them, the Jags may be even stronger in 2026 but no one’s looking ahead right now.
Coach Diego Patino’s Judson squad returns a lot of talent from last year’s team but have struggled to score runs thus far this season. The Rockets enter this series at just 3-17 overall and winless (0-7) in district play.
Game 1 will be tomorrow (4/8) from Johnson High School before the series moves to the Judson High School Baseball Field on Friday (4/11). VYPE Live will broadcast both games, courtesy of the Johnson Baseball program.
What: Buda Johnson vs. Converse Judson
When: Tuesday 4/8 and Friday 4/11 (6:45 Pregame, 7:00 First Pitch)
Where: Johnson HS & Judson HS
Who: Sam Kamen
Watch:https://www.vype.com/ AND https://vypelive.com/web/broadcast/index