Luke Ressler kept the Broncos in it as much as he could.
Dayton was hoping to salvage its final game of the Goose Creek Memorial Tournament with a win and the junior right-hander pitched well enough to win.
The Broncos carried a one-run lead into the fifth inning before Texas City took the lead and then added to it the next inning. The Stingarees prevailed 6-1 in the game played at Barbers Hill High School.
Dayton (5-10) went 0-4 during the tournament with just five runs scored.
Ressler lasted 5-plus innings against Texas City with one earned run allowed on four hits. He struck out two and walked two.
“He did an awesome job on the mound today,” Dayton coach Matt Moore said. “He executed pitches against a good lineup. He’s a guy that can come in and shut things down for you. It was an awesome outing for him.”
Texas City (3-9) had its lead-off man aboard in every inning from the third on.
The Broncos defense did a masterful job behind Ressler up until a pair of costly errors in the fifth inning helped the Stingarees pull ahead. Anthony Zuniga gunned down a runner at third in the fourth inning. The Broncos also put together a double play to end the third.
With the exception of a Ressler RBI single in the first inning, which scored Sebastian Avila, the Broncos struggled to move runners home. They totaled 10 left on base while Texas City starter Evan Loop struck out nine in five innings.
Cylde Votaw, the No. 9 hitter for the Stingarees, had two RBIs on the day while Roberto Robinson had one.
Texas City entered this week’s tournament 0-8 and exited with its first three wins. The Stingarees beat South Houston and Elgin while losing to Ridge Point.
What Ressler provided Dayton was another weapon in terms of pitching depth. Avila and Hunter Wallace head into district play as the top of the rotation. The past three weeks of tournament play has shown Moore who can be relied on out of the bullpen.
“We’ve got two or three guys after those two that can finish games for us when we get into those two-game series in district,” Moore said. “This tournament does not show what these kids are. This is a good group and it will be.”
Earlier Saturday, the Broncos fell 7-0 to Kinkaid. They totaled four hits with Avila providing a double.
Dayton’s focus now turns to the most important stretch of the season – District 18-5A – which starts Tuesday at West Fork.
“We’re 0-0,” Moore said. “That’s what it is. I just told them out there (in the postgame chat) that we’re 0-0 now and it’s all about going and getting West Fork and going after that ‘DC’ (district championship).”
Friday’s game
Dayton was in command against Dickinson until late Gators rally
The Gators scored four times in the bottom of the sixth and the game reached its time limit for a 5-2 loss for the Broncos.
Dickinson held a 1-0 lead through two innings before Dayton responded with a run apiece in the third and fourth innings.
Wallace had the lone hit and RBI for Dayton, which drew six walks and had one hit batter.
Braden Gutierrez went 5⅔ innings on the mound with five earned runs allowed on six hits. He struck out three and walked four. Zuniga picked up the final out.
Thursday’s game
Avila gave his team a chance with six solid innings on the mound, but the Broncos fell in the tournament-opener to Liberty, 3-2.
Avila scattered seven hits with three earned runs allowed. The junior right struck out two and walked two.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fourth, Andrew Soliz doubled in Ressler, who was courtesy running for Zak Wood, who doubled to start the inning.
Three batters after Soliz’s RBI, Lopez hit into a double play which scored the senior from third to tie it at 2-all.
Liberty then took the lead in the next half inning and the Panthers held on from there.
Dayton scattered five hits with Wood and Soliz each going 2-for-3.
Dayton junior Luke Ressler pitched well against Texas City on March 8, 2025 (Chris Zorzi/SportCast Media)
