Katy and Taylor both won on Friday to move into a tie for first place in district with Cinco Ranch, while Tompkins outlasted Jordan to stay in fourth place and Morton Ranch earned its second district win of the season.

Udland leads Katy past Seven Lakes

Connor Udland led Katy to an important win on Friday, as the Tigers beat Seven Lakes 3-1 behind a strong performance on the mound from the junior, improving to 18-10 on the season and 11-3 in district play to go into a tie for first in district. Udland pitched six of seven innings and allowed just one hit and one run while striking out eight and walking three.

Katy got on the board first in the game, scoring in the top of the second when Ashten Ballew hit a single that drove in a run, the Tigers added a second when Aiden Barrientes grounded into a fielders choice that brought home a run in the fifth inning and a third run came across for the Tigers in the sixth off an error. Seven Lakes got one run back in the bottom of the sixth on a balk by Udland, but Katy held on the rest of the way as Arvey Huerta pitched a clean seventh, striking out two and not allowing a run.

Jace Garica got Seven Lakes lone hit and run. James Levin pitched 3.2 innings and had three hits while striking out three and walking three, allowing just one run. Seven Lakes dropped to 16-11-2 overall and 8-6 in district, staying in fifth place and two games behind Tompkins for the last playoff spot.

Taylor outlasts Paetow to move into tie for first

A Taylor win moved the Mustangs into that same three-way tie for first with Katy and Cinco, as the Mustangs came out on top in a 13-10 win over Paetow to improve to 21-10-1 overall and 11-3 in district.

Carlos Cardozo led the way for Taylor with three RBIs, while Chase Marshall added two RBIs on three hits and Zach Larsen had two RBIs as well. Christian Jaquay earned the win on the mound, pitching the final three innings for Taylor and allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out five and walking two.

Paetow got on the board in the second inning when Hector Millan hit a solo home run. Adniel Quiles-Torres added another on a single and Victor Salazar made it 4-0 by driving in two more on a single. Maddox Prentice added to the Panthers lead in the third with a solo home run and Manny Montalvo drove in two more to make it 7-0 Paetow.

Taylor started to come back in the bottom of the third. Peter Dworaczyk got a run across on a bases loaded walk and Cardozo got another across on a single. A hit by pitch got a third run across for Taylor before David Harris hit a single for a fourth Taylor run. Davidenko Rodriguez drove in another on a single before a passed ball that allowed a run trimmed Paetow’s lead to 7-6. Millan increased Paetow’s lead to 8-6 in the top of the fourth with an RBI single, but Taylor answered back with a Cardozo RBI single to trim the deficit back to one, but Paetow went back up by two with a run off an error in the top of the fifth. Taylor kept fighting though and got a run off a bases loaded walk before tying it in the bottom of the fifth on a bases loaded hit by pitch, taking the lead on a catcher’s interference later in the inning.

Taylor added on in the sixth, Chase Marshall drove in two on a single before Taylor made it a four-run lead off an error. Paetow got one run back in the top of the seventh on a Prentice single, but weren’t able to muster any more and fell by three runs.

Prentice, Montalvo and Millan all had two RBIs for Paetow. Elijah Chisam took the loss for Paetow, allowing five earned runs in 2.2 innings on three hits while striking out one and walking six. Paetow dropped to 17-11 overall and 6-8 in district, staying in sixth place in district and two games back from Seven Lakes for fifth.

Tompkins walks off over Jordan

A big game from Chase Simon got Tompkins past Jordan on Friday, as the Falcons improved to 18-11 overall and 10-4 in district, staying in fourth place and just one game back from the three way tie for first place in district between Katy, Cinco Ranch and Taylor with a 3-2 win over Jordan. Simon was huge for the Falcons on the day, pitching a complete game and allowing just one earned run on nine hits while striking out 10 and walking one, while Nic Piazza provided a walk off RBI.

Jordan struck first in the game, JD Ortigoza hit an RBI single in the top of the second to get a run across and it stayed that way until the fifth when Hudson Melaerts hit a sacrifice fly to tie it. Jordan went back in front in the top of the seventh, scoring on a passed ball but Tompkins answered back. Ian Palacios tied it in the bottom of the seventh on a single before Piazza ended the game with an RBI single as Tompkins earned the walk off win.

Thomas Eugate had a strong day on the mound for the Warriors, allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out one and walking one over six innings. Ortigoza had the Warriors lone RBI. Jordan fell to 11-16 overall and 4-10 in district, staying in seventh in district and two games behind Paetow.

Morton Ranch tops Mayde Creek

Morton Ranch earned its second win of the season on Friday with a 6-2 win over Mayde Creek, improving to 8-20-1 overall and 2-12 in district play with the win. Zane Heiger had a strong day on the mound, allowing one earned run on three hits over six innings while striking out seven and walking five. Jerry Gurierrez and Kelvin Malone led the way offensively with two RBIs each whle Heiliger added one RBI and Kaili Bledsaw added another. Adrian Barrios had two runs scored in the win.

Mayde Creek fell to 3-25-1 overall and 1-15 in district with the loss.