Back on Monday, March 19, the San Saba boys’ baseball team needed to travel to Bangs for their fourth district game of the year. With eminent weather we made the trip anyway and started the varsity game early while we could. Zack Davis led off with a single to the left side and Luke Cox had a single to the right side. Ryan Pannell had a hard single to left center that scored Davis and two other outs ended our inning.In the bottom half of the inning, their lead off batter was hit by a pitch, but Ryan Pannell struck out the next two batters and walked the fourth. With two runners on, two outs, and a one-ball one-strike count to the fifth Bangs batter, lightning flashed in the area and suspended our game. By rule, there is a 30-minute delay after each strike just to make sure the danger has passed. By eight o’clock that night it was evident by weather reports that it was just going to get worse instead of better. We had to postpone to Wednesday evening. Our district rules stated that the game would resume with the same score, same situation, same batter, even the same count.Now on Wednesday night and much better conditions, Pannell got back on the mound with 2 on, 2 out, and a 1-1 count. It only took him two pitches to finally finish the inning. The top of the second saw the Dillos go 1, 2, and 3. In the bottom half, Bangs started with a single and stole second. A ground ball out moved the runner to third and another ground ball out got the runner in, a strikeout ended the inning. The game was tied at one.Both pitchers settled in and held teams scoreless until the fifth inning. Russell Lowe doubled down the left field line and Luke Cox singled to right driving him in. This momentarily put the Dillos up 2-1. In the bottom half, the pitch hit the first batter and the next two batters struck out. A hard single to right field sent the runner around to third. A hard hit ball on the infield allowed a run to score before another ground ball ended the inning. The score was now tied again 2-2.Nothing doing for either team in the sixth. In the seventh, San Saba managed to load the bases with no outs. Bangs decided to bring in their ace pitcher to put the fire out. He struck out the next three batters to end the inning. Pannell was also able to hold the Bangs offense in check to keep the game tied and send it to extra innings. The Dillos went 1, 2, and 3 in the eighth. Ryan Guidroz came in to finish pitching and only allowed an infield single in the bottom of the eighth, so we moved on to the ninth. The Armadillos went 1, 2, and 3 again. In Bangs’ last at-bat, the first batter drew a walk. The next batter tried to bunt the runner over, but fouled it off. On the next pitch, the batter showed bunt but hit the ball instead right at Zack Davis moving in from third. He knocked it down and threw to first for the out. The runner tried for third with no one to cover. A return throw from first to third was arriving at the same time as the fielders and the runner. The ball skipped through to the fence allowing the game-ending run to score. Bangs improved on their undefeated season by winning 2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. This put Bangs solely in first place in district and moved San Saba down to 3-1 in district play and 10-3 on the season.We quickly went to Hamilton on Friday, March 23. The Armadillos scored first to start the game, but the Bulldogs equaled it in their half. We continued to score often at the start of the game, but could never really pull away. Ryan Pannell went 2-3 and drove in three runs on the day. Zack Davis had a great day, drawing two walks and scoring three of the six runs. Kelan Verette had a double; Luke Cox had a double with an RBI and Russell Lowe also knocked in a run for the team. Ryan Guidroz pitched four of the seven innings, only striking out three and allowing seven hits and four runs. Zack Davis came in to pitch in the fifth inning after a single and two base error allowed a run to score for Hamilton, making the score San Saba – 5, Hamilton – 4. In the sixth, one of Davis’s walks led to a run when Pannell singled him in stretching the lead to 6 – 4. However, in the bottom half of the inning, the Bulldogs had two strike out and two got singles. A wild pitch moved them to second and third. A single to the outfield plated two more runs and evened the score at six. The Dillos went 1, 2, and 3 in the seventh…déjà vu.Davis struck out the first batter in the bottom of the seventh. A single, walk loaded the bases with only one out. The next batter hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to left field to end the game San Saba – 6, Hamilton – 7. This loss brought the Armadillos’ season record to 10 – 4. However, their district record is now 3 – 2, which is the same district record as Hamilton by the way. Bangs is in first at 4-0, and Early is second at 3-1.Our next two games will be played Thursday, March 29, here at Dillo Diamond against the Coleman Bluecats. Our JV teams will play at 4:30 and our varsity will play at 7:00. We will also play on the next day, Friday, March 30, again right here at Dillo Diamond against the Hico Tigers. Again, our JV teams will play at 4:30 and the varsity game will be at 7:00. We look forward to seeing everyone come out and watch some exciting baseball with better results. Thank you for your support.