The 2026 Hill Country Classic began the baseball season on Thursday, February 19th, and host, Dripping Springs, is the talk of the tourney. Coming off of a State Semifinals appearance a year ago, the Tigers are looking to make another run at it, with a younger team than last season.
The Tigers are led by Head Coach Chris Payne, who is in his 20th season as the Head Coach of the program (and as of this writing, 398 wins). He has seen the highs and lows of the program, and is excited about the season ahead. “We haven’t won a game since May 30th, and it doesn’t seem like a long time ago, but when you’re in it, it’s a long time.” The Tigers are led by Senior Starting Pitcher, Blake Cox, who in his season debut on Thursday night, Cox through 11 strikeouts, giving up only two hits, and is ready for the grind of the season.
Seven other teams came to Dripping Springs for the festivities. The Indians of Waxahachie, Keller Indians, Hutto Hippos, San Marcos Rattlers, Pearce Mustangs, Rockwell Yellowjackets, and the Lehman Lobos, a team that was in the same district as Dripping Springs some three years ago.
Dripping Springs opened the tourney for themselves on Thursday suffering their first lost of the season to San Marcos 5-3. They rebounded later on that night against Pearce 6-2 thanks to great pitching from Cox, Cody McDaniel, and Daniel Masters.
The very next day, Dripping Springs would lose against the Indians of Waxahachie 6-2, before coming back in the afternoon and getting a tie against Keller 2-2. They would then sweep the action on Saturday, coming back and defeating Rockwall 6-4 thanks to a six inning grand slam by senior Cade Sanders. Sanders would then come back and pitch a gem in an 11-0 run rule game against Hutto.
With only six seniors coming back to the team, the task of making it back to the State Semifinals will be a tough task, but with the coaching staff of the Tigers, this program is primed and focus for a deep postseason run.
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