Schools across Dallas-Fort Worth are out of session for the week on spring break, which coincides with the halfway point of the high school baseball and softball seasons.

As teams look to begin district play for the latter half of the season, Texas Rangers Youth Academy athletes are already proving to be difference-makers for their varsity teams across the Metroplex.

Check out a few standout performances below:

Molina High School

Molina High’s Santos Salinas has helped lead his team to an 8-1-1 record to start the season. In the team’s March 12 matchup versus Sunset High School, the Jaguars narrowly secured the 2-1 victory after playing 11 innings. Salinas was integral in holding Sunset to just one run after a dominant performance on the mound with four punch outs in seven innings pitched.

Woodrow Wilson High School vs. W.H. Adamson High School

Three Youth Academy ballplayers, Juan Aranda, Luis Cruz and Christian Salazar, competed in one of the season’s most exciting games thus far as Woodrow Wilson walked off Adamson High School, 6-5, for the win on March 12.

Aranda’s 2-for-3 day at the plate for the Woodrow Wilson Wildcats included the game-tying, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. Despite the loss, Cruz and Salazar were key offensive components for Adamson, finishing the game 1-for-3, with one walk and one run scored each.

Arlington Martin High School vs. South Grand Prairie High School

Rangers Youth Academy teammates turned competitors for the day when Arlington Martin faced South Grand Prairie on March 12.

Austin Phillips, Giovanny Orozco, and Jacob Ayala were all key players for SGP in the team's 6-5 loss. Phillips finished the day 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, RBI and one run scored, Orozco went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two-way player Jacob Ayala worked two walks at the plate while striking out six opposing batters on the mound.

Arlington Martin’s Romel Garcia helped secure the win for his team after going 1-for-4 with two difference-making runs batted in.

Red Oak High School

Softballers at the Rangers Youth Academy hit for power and there was no shortage of supporting evidence in Red Oak’s 7-6 extra-innings win over Crandal High School on March 12.

Shortstop Destan Burks, pitcher Hailey Zuniga and outfielder Meagan Robles all hit fence-clearing home runs in the team’s hard-fought win. The three young ladies were also major players for the Academy’s 2024 Cat Osterman Softball Academy Winter Invitational Championship-winning team.

Irving Nimitz High School

Repeat Rangers Nike RBI Softball All-Star Gio Frias has proven to be one of Irving Nimitz High School’s biggest threats in the circle.

In the team’s 6-5 win over Highland Park High School on March 11, Frias threw eight strikeouts and allowed only one earned run.

Irving High School vs. Irving Nimitz High School

On March 8, Irving High School topped Irving Nimitz High School, 8-7, in a matchup that saw two standout Youth Academy softball pitchers compete against one another.

Irving High’s Shantia Haymer earned the win over Nimitz’s Frias. In seven innings of work, Haymer struck out seven and issued four walks, while Frias threw 6 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts and six walks.