There are plenty of chances for rain nearly every day this week, which can only mean one thing: the high school baseball playoffs are about to begin.
Killeen ISD will have two teams in the 2026 postseason as Harker Heights and Chaparral enter the fray starting Wednesday night.
Guided by head coach David Williams, the Bobcats (15-15-1) tied for third in District 16-5A with Waco University and will get Ennis (25-4-1) in the first round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
Game 1 is 3 p.m. Wednesday, Game 2 is 7 p.m. Thursday and Game 3, if necessary, is 2 p.m. Saturday. All games will be played at Alvarado High School.
Chaparral is in the playoffs for a third straight season. The Bobcats booked their berth this year with a 6-4 record in district action, sweeping Ellison and Waco, splitting with Waco University and Belton, and falling short twice against league champ Lake Belton.
Michael Schubert posted a team-high .389 batting average, and also led the way with 35 hits and seven doubles (tied with Kelvin Fuentes.) Geno Ybarra (team-high three home runs and 28 RBIs) was second with a .349 average and Fuentes third at .341. Jose Torres and Eliel Rivera also batted over .300 with a minimum 60 at-bats.
Left-hander Ybarra and right-hander Aiden Hurst combined to go 13-4 on the mound, and recorded almost identical strikeout totals –– 66 for Ybarra and 62 for Hurst.
Ennis is the 15-5A champion.
The Knights (21-8-2), who finished runner-up in District 12-6A, drew Cedar Hill for a Class 6A Division II best-of-three bi-district series. The Longhorns (10-20) host Game 1 at 7 p.m., while the Knights are scheduled to host Game 2 at 7 p.m. Friday, May 1. Game 3, if necessary, is 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at Temple College.
Harker Heights is no stranger to the playoffs. This is the sixth straight trip for head coach Randy Culp and the Knights, the 10th in the last 12 seasons, and they charge into this edition with some momentum after defeating district champion Waco Midway, 6-4, in the regular-season finale last week.
Nate Brown’s .440 batting average (40-for-91) paces the Knights’ offense, which also features three more players –– Cannon Culp (.411), Seth Martin (.389) and Corey McMillan (.374) –– hitting .370 or better with at least 90 at-bats.
Fourteen of Brown’s team-high 40 hits went for extra bases, including four home runs. Culp has a team-high nine triples, and Brown and Martin share the lead with 33 RBIs apiece.
Martin, a right-hander, is 8-1 on the mound with 65 strikeouts. Culp, a lefty, is the change-of pace starter and has a 4-2 record with 40 strikeouts.
Cedar Hill was fourth in 11-6A behind Waxahachie, Duncanville and Mesquite Horn.