By Glenn Sattell
Chronicle correspondent

What turned out to be one of the best baseball districts in the state last year, the 2010 District 14-5A baseball season gets underway Tuesday.

The Woodlands, which advanced to the 2009 region quarterfinals, began this season ranked No. 2 in the state. Lufkin, the 2009 Region II-5A champion and Class 5A state finalist, started this season ranked No. 4.

And that doesn’t even include defending district champion College Park, who played Lufkin last season for the regional title.

“We’ve got three teams that are as good as any in the state, and you’ve got three other teams that always give you a battle whenever you step on the field,” The Woodlands coach Ron Eastman said. “Conroe always has talent. And Oak Ridge is always competitive. And New Caney was competitive last year. They didn’t lose too many ballgames by very many runs.”

The district season opens with a bang as College Park travels to Scotland Yard to face The Woodlands.

“It’ll be a showdown,” Eastman said. “It’ll be Jameson Taillon and (College Park’s) John Simms. It’ll be fun. It was fun last year. They came out on top of us last year and hopefully we can turn the tables against them this year. That’s what the kids are focused on.”

Other Tuesday District 14-5A openers includes Oak Ridge hosting Conroe (7 p.m.) and Lufkin taking on New Caney.