High school baseball: Vandegrift claims first district title heading into UIL playoffs

Carson Tan pitches for Vandegrift on April 24, 2026 at Round Rock High School. (Provided by Sally Tan)

In winning its first district title in program history, Vandegrift arguably produced one of the most impressive regular seasons in Central Texas this season.

Sitting atop the standings in the highly competitive, nine-team District 25-6A by two games with a 13-3 record, which was punctuated by a series sweep of Round Rock last week, the Vipers turned a few heads around the Texas high school baseball landscape with their play the last two months.

“This means a lot for our program,” Vandegrift coach Jarod Hickle said. “We’ve been building since I became head coach (in 2022) trying to get to this point. And you just never know what group is going to do it. These guys did it their own way. They got out there, competed every day and overcame adversity.”

No team had clinched a playoff spot going into the final week, with five teams fighting for four spots.

Vandegrift (19-12) secured its position Wednesday with a 2-1 win as Braylon Jones and Dax Van Stavern belted back-to-back RBI doubles, Karston Coffey scattered five hits over six innings and Carson Tan retired the side in the seventh for the save.

It then claimed the outright district title Friday when Tan tossed a complete game with seven strikeouts and helped himself at the plate with two RBIs in an 8-1 win. Jones and Tyler Miller ripped run-scoring singles and Thomas Foote had a three-run double in other notable hitting performances.

“When you start to play like this, it gives us some momentum,” said Hickle, whose team is the top seed in the Division II playoffs and will face Westlake in the bidistrict round this week. “But the biggest thing that our guys do is just focus on the process. Day in and day out, they do what’s needed to win that day.”