After a Spring Break sweep of the Manor Mustangs, McNeil baseball was looking to continue the win streak at home Tuesday night against Vista Ridge. With both teams sitting at a 2-1 W record coming in, the game was a battle for who would stay tied for first in the district. It was low scoring, as senior pitcher Pierce Stone threw an incredible game against a good Rangers offense, but the bats couldn’t get any run support, leading to the loss.

The first two innings were scoreless as both pitchers had their best stuff on. The first run of the game came in the top of the third inning. Vista got a few runners on through the use of well-placed hits. Nothing was hit exceptionally hard, but they were placed perfectly to where the Mav fielders weren’t able to get to the ball, despite good efforts. Vista also got another run later in the game, which came of the same nature, with well-placed hits leading the way to double the lead in the sixth inning, 2-0. McNeil had opportunities to score runs of their own, having several baserunners on at various points throughout the game, including the bases loaded in the fifth, but couldn’t scratch across any runs, ending with a loss.

Despite the end result, it was a competitive game from start to finish, and if a few things go differently, it’s very likely that this name game ends up being a win. The Mavs will get another chance at Vista on Friday, 7:30 p.m. on the road, and have a very good chance at earning the series split and keeping themselves in the playoff picture.