In a battle for the top spot in the District 8-3A baseball standings, the Early Longhorns suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Brock, 3-2, Tuesday night, while the Bangs Dragons collected their first league win, 6-1, over Millsap.

In the loss for Early (12-4, 7-2), Brock (17-3, 9-0) scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the third inning, while the Longhorns chipped away at the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth frames.

The rally felt short despite Early finishing with six hits – two by Bradly Roman and one each by Jeremy Brown, Caleb McCullough, Josh-Stewart Gordon, and Franky Villarreal, who drove in a run. Rylie Hill also picked up an RBI for the Longhorns.

Hill tossed three innings and allowed three runs on four hits with one strikeout and one walk, while Roman worked three hitless innings and fanned six batters with a pair of walks.

In Bangs’ triumph, the Dragons’ (5-11, 1-8) Kade Minshew tossed a two-hitter, allowing one unearned runs on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks over seven innings.

Bangs generated five hits and three walks against Millsap (7-7, 4-5) and scored twice in the third inning, three times in the fourth and added a final run in the sixth frame.

Weston Jundt finished with two hits and a pair of RBIs, Azreal Escobedo chipped in a pair of hits, and Guy Powell added a hit and an RBI as well. Kade Minshew and Skylar Minshew were both credited with driving in a run each.