ABILENE – The District 8-3A third seed Bangs Dragons forced a third game with District 7-3A runner Bowie, but came just short of advancing to the second round of the Region I-3A baseball playoffs.

After dropping Game 1 of their bi-district series by a 9-0 count Friday night at McMurry University, the Dragons returned to the same venue and held on for a 7-6 victory in Game 2 Saturday. Then, trailing by five runs in their final at-bat, Bangs mustered four runs in an 8-7 season-ending loss.

In the Bangs (15-13-1) win Saturday, the Dragons finished with eight hits – two by Guy Powell and one each from Ethan Sanchez, Brayton Wedeman, Ethan Cortez, Angel Arias, Evan Belez and Trevor Bowers. Wedeman drove in two runs while Sanchez and Samuel Packer collected an RBI apiece.

On the mound, Wedeman and Arias allowed 14 hits to Bowie (21-13), but left 10 runners stranded thanks to four strikeouts and no walks.

In the Dragons’ loss, Sanchez and Arias notched two hits apiece while Powell, Wedeman, Cortez and Azreal Escobedo contributed one each. Arias and Escobedo tallied two RBIs apiece while Wedeman, Cortez and Bowers each knocked in one.

Arias, Escobedo, Kade Minshew and Ethan Ethridge combined to surrendered nine hits and six walks with just one strikeout.