It was an Humble ISD Tournament sandwich for the Dayton Broncos. And it’ll go well with a hot bowl of soup after enduring frigid temperatures over three days to conclude the first week of the regular season.
The Broncos placed pieces of bread (three losses between Thursday and Saturday) around the lunch meat middle (two wins Friday) to finish the tournament 2-3.
It was a humbling start with losses to host Kingwood (5-0) and Tomball Memorial (11-6) on the first day. The Broncos emerged to defeat host Humble (12-8) and then C.E. King (2-1) on Friday. Dayton then fell to Summer Creek (10-5) in a slugfest Saturday.
It took some time for the Broncos (2-4) to light a flame after getting blanked by Kingwood in the opener on the heels of a shutout loss to Barbers Hill earlier in the week on Monday.
Sebastian Avila mustered two hits against the Mustangs. Anthony Zuniga went three innings on the mound with two earned runs allowed. Blake Sigle didn’t allow any runs for two innings while Luke Ressler closed things out with two earned runs in the final frame.
Dayton broke out of its slump at the plate with three runs in the first against Tomball Memorial. After Ivan Lopez scored on an error and Wyatt Druin scored on a balk, Peyton Trahan hit an RBI double for the Broncos.
The Wildcats scored eight unanswered runs before Dayton added two runs in the fifth and one more in the seventh. Zak Wood hit a solo homer and Lopez had an RBI.
The floodgates really opened for Dayton the following day against Humble. Trailing 8-3 heading into the sixth and final inning, Dayton scored nine runs to pull away to the win.
Andrew Soliz (triple), Kyler Moreau and Avila (double) each had two RBIs. Zuniga doubled and had an RBI while Trahan and Hunter Wallace each drove in a run.
Avila pitched two innings of relief for the win. He allowed three earned runs on four hits. Logan Strickland went the first four innings with two earned runs on three hits. He struck out three.
The Broncos leaned on Landon Curry against King as the runs calmed down for a pitchers duel. Curry hung in for six innings with two hits allowed and an unearned run. He struck four and walked five. Wallace picked up the save with two strikeouts in the seventh and a walk.
Avila had an RBI and scored a run.
Saturday against Summer Creek, the teams combined on 11 runs through two innings with Dayton trailing 7-4. The Bulldogs added three more runs between the fifth and sixth innings while Dayton added one more in the sixth.
Avila was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. Wood and Soliz each had one RBI. Moureau doubled and scored a run while taking the loss on the mound.
Manny Castillo was effective in relief as he went 2⅓ innings without giving up a hit. He walked three and didn’t allow a run. Braden Gutierrez went the final two innings with one earned run allowed on two walks. Summer Creek had just four hits.
Dayton is back in action Tuesday for a non-district game at Nederland at 6:30 p.m.
Dayton’s Anthony Zuniga (3) delivers a pitch during the Humble ISD Tournament on Feb. 20, 2025. (Jose Palomo/SportCast Media)
