Fastball - UIL bi-district baseball: Keller sweeps Lake Ridge and more, plus area scores

Welcome to the high school baseball edition of the Fastball, a Star-Telegram series highlighting Fort Worth-area teams. The UIL bi-district round is in full swing so check out coverage and results.

Keller sweeps Lake Ridge with pitching gems

Cole Koeninger tossed 6 innings of no-hit ball and went 2 for 4 at the plate with 2 runs scored as Keller defeated Mansfield Lake Ridge 6-0 in Game 2 on Thursday night to sweep their Class 6A Division I bi-district series.

Koeninger, a Tennessee signee, struck out 14 for Keller (31-2-2) which will play the winner of the Odessa Permian (15-18)-El Paso Pebble Hills (18-11-2) series next week in the area round. Koeninger singled to lead off the game for the Indians and scored later in the 2-run first inning on a passed ball.

Koeninger led off the 4-run third inning with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Brown. Jayden Moeller lined a single to center to knock in 2 and Cody Miller’s RBI double to right drove home Moeller to make it 6-0.

Luke Pelletier had the only hit for Lake Ridge (19-12-2) with a 2-out double in the top of the seventh off of Connor Davenport who also struck out the side.

In Game 1 on Wednesday, Brown tossed a complete-game, 1-hitter as Keller took a 4-0 decision. Brown, who’s headed to the University of Houston, struck out 11 and walked 3.

The game was scoreless until the Indians scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth on a fielder’s choice ground out by Bodie Davis that scored Moeller who had led off with a single. Koeninger led off the sixth with a triple and came home on a double to right by Brock Burkett that sparked a 3-run inning which included an RBI single by Brown.

Jaiden LaCour-Loyd tripled to lead off the fourth for the Eagles only hit, but was caught in a double play to end the inning.

Southlake Carroll continues roll, sends Boswell home

Southlake Carroll had won 9 consecutive games until Fort Worth Boswell defeated the Dragons in Game 2 of their Class 6A Division II bi-district series. But the Dragons bounced back to win their 10th in 11 games as Carroll shut out the Pioneers 3-0 in Game 3 on Friday at North Richland Hills Richland High School to takes the series 2 games to 1.

Southlake Carroll (15-19-1) awaits the winner of the Midland (28-4)-El Paso Eastwood (19-6-3) series for its area-round matchup. Midland leads the series 1-0 after a 3-1 win over the Troopers on Wednesday.

The Dragons clinched the series win in style as Jackson Smith and Gavin Morris combined to no hit Boswell. Smith tossed the first 5 innings striking out 6 and walking 4 and Morris came in for the final 2 and struck out 2 and walked 1.

Carroll punched out 10 hits including 2 each for Bo Kuhn and Jackson James at the bottom of the order. Kuhn had an RBI single in the second inning with Matthew Heredia and Gavin Strange both delivering run-scoring hits in the third.

Boswell (22-10-3) took Game 2 at Carroll High School 6-4 on Thursday as the Pioneers scored 4 times in the second inning and twice more in the fourth before holding off the Dragons. Peyton Rhodes had the big hit in the second driving in Tyler Reyes and Bryce Guyton on a ground single to center.

Colton Coursey doubled in Braylin Caston in the Pioneers’ 2-run fourth. Heredia had a sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI single in the fifth to lead the Dragons.

Carroll got another strong pitching performance in Game 1 on Wednesday at Boswell High School as A.J. Bonnette threw 8 innings of 2-hit ball, striking out 15 and walking none in a 2-0 win by the Dragons. Shawn Arterburn bases loaded double in the top of the eighth drove in Zach Stroud and Strange.

Bonnette struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth to end the game.

Aledo overcomes chaos, takes care of Ryan

Aledo capped off an unusual week with a 7-1 win over Denton Ryan in Game 2 on Friday to sweep their Class 5A Division I bi-district series at Justin Northwest High School.

Aledo (30-3), the defending 5A DI state champ, was set to face Colleyville Heritage on Wednesday, but just hours before first pitch, that changed after Grapevine was ruled out of the playoffs for using an ineligible player in the regular season.

Colleyville Heritage was pushed down to Division II while Ryan took Grapevine’s playoff spot with the Raiders moving into a spot in DI against the Bearcats.

In the Game 2 clincher, Aledo starting pitcher and LSU commit Lucas Nawrocki, a top MLB prospect, allowed 1 earned run on 3 hits in 5 innings while striking out 12. Dane Browne came on in relief and struck out 5 of 6 batters he faced.

Aledo extended its lead to 4-0 in the second inning when Landon Barnes hit an RBI single up the middle that drove in Jackson Loos. The Bearcats scored 3 times in the fourth on RBIs from Barnes, Luke Gladchuk and Dyland Duran.

In Game 1 on Thursday, Aledo scored 7 times in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Duran and Barnes. Duran added a 2-run home run in the fourth that extended the lead for Aledo to 9-0.

Barnes hit a walk-off RBI double that scored Kaler Mazon that ended the game in the bottom of the fifth. Garrett Love was the winning pitcher in Game 1 with a 2-hit shutout and 7 strikeouts.

Martin advances with wins over Richardson

Arlington Martin jumped out to a 4-run lead and then held off Richardson 5-3 in Game 2 on Thursday at Richardson High School to sweep the Class 6A Division I series.

Martin (16-17) moves on to face Hebron (25-6-2) in the area round next week after the Hawks swept Plano West. The Warriors won Game 1 against Richardson 6-2 at home on Wednesday.

Martin jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Parker Hopson and Damian Openshaw were both hit by pitches. With 2 out, Hopson scored on a wild pitch and Openshaw came home on an RBI single by Ian Vacha, who later scored on an RBI double by Alan Guzman.

A bases-loaded walk to Cooper Albart in the third made it 4-0 Martin, but Richardson countered with 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 4-3. The Warriors got some insurance in the sixth when Guerin Powers was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and later scored with 2 outs on balk.

Richardson (19-11-2) only managed to get 2 more base runners after the fourth and never threatened against Ezekiel Guardiola who tossed the final 3 innings for the Warriors.

In Game 1 on Wednesday Vacha tossed 6 innings of scoreless ball scattering 4 hits while striking out 10 and walking 2 in Martin’s 6-2 win. Openshaw went 3 for 4 at the plate for the Warriors with an RBI double in a 4-run fifth inning.

Hopson, Jacoby Hazen and Powers had 2 hits each for Martin.

Byron Nelson edges Legacy in nine innings to move on

Hayden Kaylor scored on a ground out by Kenson Buth in the top of the ninth inning and Trophy Club Byron Nelson held on for a 3-2 win over Mansfield Legacy on Thursday at Legacy High School to sweep the Class 6A Division II series.

Byron Nelson (27-6-1) drummed Legacy (23-10) in Game 1 at home on Wednesday 11-1 in five innings. The Bobcats will meet Wolfforth Frenship (27-9) in the area round next week after the Tigers swept El Paso Coronado.

Legacy scored twice in the bottom of the sixth on a double by Corbin McDaniel that drove home Eli Dugan and Jake Jenkins to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead. But Byron Nelson countered in the top of the seventh when a pair of bases-loaded walks with 2 out to Lane Furr and Buth brought home Reid Williams and Bryce Risley to tie the game.

In Game 1, Buth, a junior Baylor commit, starred tossing 5 innings allowing 1 earned run while scattering 3 hits with 9 strikeouts and walking 2. At the plate, Buth doubled twice and tripled in 4 at bats driving in 2 and scoring once.

Buth’s double drove in a run to start a 6-run fourth inning. Williams doubled in 2 runs in the inning and a two-bagger by Brendan Arata drove home Williams.

Kennedale sweeps Pinkston with a pair of shutouts, no hitter

Kennedale got a 5-inning no-hit pitching performance from Chance McLaughlin as the Wildcats downed Dallas Pinkston 10-0 in a run-rule shortened Game 1 of their Class 4A Division II bi-district playoff on Wednesday at Jet Teague Park on the campus of Kennedale High School.

Kennedale (21-8) advances to the area round and will meet Frisco Panther Creek (29-2) next week. Panther Creek’s only 2 losses on the season were by 1 run in extra innings to both Lake Dallas and Flower Mound Marcus.

McLaughlin struck out 6 while walking none to get the win on the bump. The Wildcats only had 3 hits on the day, all singles by Colton Sandoval, Tanyan Miller and Kyle Moore, but benefitted from 11 walks and 2 errors by the Vikings.

In Game 2 of the double header, Pinkston (9-16-1) was able to scratch out 4 hits against Kennedale’s Rami Mahmoud, but again couldn’t score in a 10-0, 6 inning game. Mahmoud struck out 12 batters and walked 1.

The Wildcats pounded out 11 hits in the nightcap led by Nathan Arber who went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Colton Sandoval (1 run, 1 RBI) and Jacob Monreal (2 runs, 1 RBI) had 2 hits each for Kennedale.

Dilon Sandoval had a double and 2 RBI in a 4-run third inning for the Wildcats. Miller doubled with 2 runs and 2 RBI.

Click here to see the Fort Worth-area UIL bi-district baseball scores

This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 12:07 AM.