CEDAR PARK — The Hutto Hippos varsity baseball team picked up a 5-3 win over Vista Ridge on Thursday, April 17, behind a strong performance from senior Micheal Elquist, who went 1-for-2 at the plate with two RBIs.
The Hippos fell behind early after the Rangers took a 1-0 lead on a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Hutto responded in the top of the second, plating two runs on RBI singles by Elquist and junior Aidan Eierdam to take a 2-1 lead.
After both teams went down in order in the third, Vista Ridge tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single in the fourth. Neither team scored in the fifth, but the Hippos broke the stalemate in the sixth when Jadyn Saxbury delivered an RBI single to give Hutto a 3-2 lead.
The Rangers answered in the bottom of the sixth, tying the game on a Hutto error.
The Hippos regained control in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Eierdam secured the win by catching a fly ball for the final out.
Senior Jackson Reed started on the mound for Hutto, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing three runs while striking out five. Sophomore Kaleb Wertz came on in relief and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
With the win, Hutto improved to 8-16 overall and 4-10 in district play. The Hippos faced McNeil on Tuesday, April 22, and will close out the 2025 season at home against the Mavericks on Fri-day, April 25, at 7 p.m.
