Trevor Esparza made a statement to start District 19-6A play.

The senior pitcher wants to be known as one of the best in the state and he showed what he can do Tuesday, as the senior threw seven scoreless innings against a Taylor side that gave the Falcons problems for five innings.

Behind Esparza’s 102, pitch nine strikeout, no walk performance, the Falcons came away 5-0 winners  over the Mustangs to stay undefeated on the season and start district with a win.

Things stayed tied for the first four innings of the game before Tompkins scored all four of its runs and broke things open in the fifth.

Cooper Markle started things off by drawing a walk before Drew Markle singled, moving Cooper over to second. Jace LaViolette then struck the first big blow, hitting an RBI double to center field scoring both Cooper and Drew, Adam Benavidez walked to score a run as the bases were loaded and Ty Dagley singled to drive in another run, giving Esparza more than enough cushion to finish things off. Esparza finished things off with two three-up three-down innings in the sith and seventh.

Blake Wolf took the loss for Taylor. Wolf pitched four strong innings, but allowed four runs in the fourth and three hits overall while striking out four.

Seven Lakes shuts out Morton Ranch

Lawson Moreno and Tyler Welch helped Seven Lakes get off to a good start in district play combining for a three hit shutout over Morton Ranch in which the duo combined for 10 strikeouts over seven innings.

Lawson Moreno got the start for the Spartans, going 4.1 innings and allowing just two hits while striking out five and walking three.

It took until the bottom of the fourth for the Spartans to get on the board, as Miguel Acosta drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to score Carter Naninni.

Seven Lakes then got two more in the bottom of the fifth, as Brayden Phillips walked to start things and then stole second before Ryan Franden tripled to score Phillips and Jake Steffes hit a sacrifice fly to score Franden, giving the Spartans a three run cushion.

Brandon Hasselbring took the loss for Taylor despite a strong outing. Hasselbring went six innings, giving up two hits and two earned runs while striking out three and walking three.

Jordan takes loss to Magnolia West

Jordan fell 16-0 to Magnolia West in District 19-5A play.

Connor Carmichael took the loss for the Warriors, the right hander allowed eight hits and seven runs over 1 and two-thirds innings, allowing eight hits and seven runs while walking one.

Magnolia West scored one run in the first, six runs in the second and nine runs in the fourth inning to secure the win.

Braden Franklin got the Warriors lone hit, keeping Magnolia West from getting a no-hitter.

Cinco Ranch outlasts Summer Creek in final district tune-up

Cinco Ranch outlasted Summer Creek 9-8, taking the lead in the seventh inning to win its final game before starting district play.

The Cougars took an early lead, as Gavin Rutherford hit an RBI single and TJ Hughes doubled to drive in another run.

Summer Creek responded by scoring one in the bottom of the inning but Cinco got a third run in the second when Brock DeYoung  hit an RBI double to left field.

Summer Creek again trimmed the lead by one in the bottom of the second and then took the lead in the bottom of the third by scoring two more runs.

But Cinco had the response in the top of the fourth, as Hughes singled to score two more runs and the Cougars scored two more on an error by Summer Creek.

Summer Creek again took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, making it 8-7 by scoring four in the inning but the Cougars tied things in the fifth with a solo home run by Charlie Atkinson. And Atkinson was at the center of things again when Cinco took the lead for good in the top of the seventh. He reached on an error and a run scored to make things 9-8 before Summer Creek put two on base in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t get a run across.