MANOR — The Hutto Hippos varsity baseball team earned its first district win of the season with a dominant 23-3 run-rule victory over Manor on Saturday, March 15. Darey Esparza and senior Roman Grametbauer led the offensive charge, combining to go 6-for-7 at the plate with eight RBIs.
Hutto jumped out to an early lead, scoring six runs in the top of the first. Grametbauer set the tone with a two-run homer to make it 2-0.
The Hippos capitalized on a dropped third strike, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch to push the lead to 5-0 before adding another run on a sacrifice fly.
The offense erupted in the third inning, plating 14 runs behind six doubles and multiple singles. Junior pitcher Kyler Klaus earned the win on the mound, pitching four innings and allowing three runs.
Manor managed to get on the board in the bottom of the third, scoring on an error and a two-run single to make it 21-3.
Hutto tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning with back-toback sacrifice flies. The Hippos improved to 6-10 overall and 1-2 in district play.
They faced Manor again on Tuesday, March 18, before beginning a home-and-home series against Round Rock Westwood on March 28 at 7 p.m.
