ROUND ROCK — The Hutto Hippos varsity baseball team fell to the Round Rock Dragons, 2-0, on Tuesday, April 1, as the offense struggled, managing just one hit in 20 at-bats.
Hutto had an early scoring opportunity in the first inning when seniors Roman Grametbauer singled and Michael Elquist drew a walk, putting runners on first and second. However, a strikeout and Grametbauer being caught stealing home ended the threat.
Junior pitcher Braxton Parker got the start on the mound and retired the Dragons in order in the bottom of the first. Parker took the loss, going six innings and giving up two runs. The Hippos stranded a runner in the second and went down in order in the third before Round Rock broke the scoreless tie in the bottom half of the inning. A single and a double set up a run-scoring groundout, giving the Dragons a 1-0 lead.
Hutto went down in order again in the fourth, while Round Rock extended its lead to 2-0 on a sacrifice fly. Both teams went down in order in the fifth, but the Hippos threatened in the sixth after loading the bases with two outs on three straight walks. However, a strikeout by senior Tre Fields ended the scoring opportunity. Hutto failed to mount a comeback in the seventh, going down in order to drop to 8-12 overall and 3-4 in district play.
The Hippos wrapped up the series against Round Rock on Friday, April 4, and faced Stony Point on Saturday, April 5, before traveling to Stony Point on Tuesday, April 8, for a 7 p.m. matchup.
