United South’s JP Briseno is all smiles after an inning-ending out during a district game against LBJ on April 21, 2026, at Uni-Trade Stadium.
Billy Woods/Laredo Morning Times
United’s Michael Guerra celebrates a hit during a district game against LBJ on April 14, 2026, at UISD’s Bill Johnson Student Activity Complex.
Billy Woods/Laredo Morning Times
District 30-6A baseball action wrapped up April 24, and two Laredo teams are officially headed to the playoffs
United South (27-6, 8-4) and United (13-14,7-5) finished third and fourth in the district, marking the Panthers’ fourth consecutive playoff appearance and the Longhorns’ 22nd straight playoff berth. The two teams took opposite paths to the postseason, with United South starting the campaign scorching hot and United relying on a four-game win streak to claim a top-four finish
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The Panthers opened the campaign with 12 consecutive wins, marking the team’s best start in program history. But, they hit a minor skid in the middle of the season, dropping four of seven games from March 24 to April 14.
“We kind of hit a slump there, right in the middle, where we slumped with our bats, but our pitching has kept us in every game,” Panthers head coach Dante Madrigal told the Laredo Morning Times. “But we’re happy where we’re at right now. Our guys are coming around and we’re in the same scenario as we were last year.”
The Panthers’ pitching staff features some of Laredo’s top talents in Roman Martinez and JP Briseño. Martinez posted a 6-0 record with just six earned runs and a 96:18 K:BB across 60.1 innings this season. The senior already owns the Panthers’ program record in total strikeouts, and with a 15-strikeout performance April 24 against LBJ, he bested his own single-season strikeout record. As if that weren’t enough, Martinez is five hits away from setting the Panthers total hits record and is batting (.367) with three home runs, 24 runs scored and 20 RBI this season.
Briseño has been incredibly impressive in his own right. Briseno boasts a 7-1 record and a 1.90 ERA across 51.2 innings this season while batting .429 with two home runs, 21 runs scored and 18 RBI at the plate, and he leads United South with 35 hits.
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Madrigal hopes that the two-way duo and a veteran supporting cast will be enough to make a deep run in the playoffs.
“Once we start playoffs, everybody’s back to 0-0 and we got to show up,” Madrigal said. “We’re very happy with what we’ve accomplished so far but we want to move past that Sweet 16 we made in 2019 and hopefully we make it at least to the Elite 8.”
Matching or exceeding the feats of that 2019 team is a legitimate possibility. The 2026 Panthers’ 27-6 record bested the 2019 squad’s regular season record of 26-7. And as far as Madrigal is concerned, this group is prepared for the postseason.
“These guys are ready, we’ve played 30-something games already, and in practice we haven’t changed much,” Madrigal said. “But in the playoffs, one little mistake can cost you. That’s what happened to us last year…We’re always talking about that. ‘Remember last year.’ We are going to make errors, we are going to make mistakes but we gotta limit them.”
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The Longhorns, on the other hand, have endured a rollercoaster season. They won just five of their first 16 games before district play. They opened District play with a 3-1 record before being swept by Medina Valley and Eagle Pass in back-to-back series. That put United in a difficult position ahead of the final two weeks of district play. But the Longhorns rose to the challenge and rattled off four consecutive wins, sweeping LBJ and Alexander to secure the No. 4 seed.
“There was a lot of ups and downs, and we finished the season on the up side,” Longhorns’ head coach Rudy Saldivar said. “The thing I’m most proud of is the guys just sticking together. We could’ve fallen apart when we hit the wall…we stuck together and finished district play on the strong side.”
And while players like Hector Cadena, who slashed .418/.667/.500 with four home runs, 26 runs scored and 12 RBI, and Michael Guerra, who slashed .333/.465/.444 with 13 RBI a 12:13 BB:K anchor the Longhorns’ lineup, it’s been the pitching staff that’s been the team’s X-Factor.
Their top two arms, Alonso Barbarena and Lamberto Sicairos threw back-to-back complete-game shutouts during the team’s series sweep of Alexander. Sicairos has an exceptional 1.37 ERA with a 20:9 K:BB across 51 innings. Barbarena logged a 2.0 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 45 innings. The duo is complemented by a pair of freshmen: Pedro Cisneros and Santiago Jacques. Cisneros posted a 3-0 record with a 2.70 ERA across 23.1 innings while Jacques tallied a 3.42 ERA in 14.1 innings. Altogether, it’s a strong group that may have exceeded preseason expectations.
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“These guys are going to go up there and they’re going to do their job and give us a chance every time that they step on the field or on the mound,” Saldivar said of his pitching staff. “I’m very proud that they come in every day and they get after it.”
And by pairing the pitching with some hot bats, United hopes to make some noise in the postseason.