Cinco Ranch and Seven Lakes had successful years.

The Cougars had their best year ever in baseball, advancing to the regional semifinal for the first time as a program and finishing the year 33-7 with a 14-2 record while hanging with state tournament team Pearland in two very tough games.

Seven Lakes meanwhile battled in one of the toughest districts in Texas to make the playoffs before falling to state ranked Ridge Point in the bi-district round for the second straight year. Finishing the season 19-14 overall and 9-7 in District 19-6A play.

But one thing is for sure, the underclassman of both squads aren’t satisfied just because they achieved success this year.

“Everyone on the team, the rest of the guys and me are all working every single day,” said Seven Lakes junior Nate Johnson after Tuesday’s GHBCA Futures All-Star Game. “We want to be better and take that next step, we’re in the weight room, were hitting and taking ground balls. All of us are just trying to do anything to keep getting better.”

Johnson along with Cinco Ranch’s Brock DeYoung and Connor Ficarra took part in the futures game which showcases some of the most elite underclassman talents around the Houston area.

The Cinco Ranch duo enjoyed the process and being able to play with each other in the game.

“it was really cool to be able to do this and to have Connor do it with me,” DeYoung said. “He’s one of my close friends at Cinco and so to do it with him was awesome. It showed us a lot to come out here and be a part of this.”

But being around that environment just pushed the players to want to go further even more. Cinco’s underclassman got a taste of a deep playoff run this year and the success of winning district and they think they can build on that and continue to take things to the next level.

“We definitely want to go even further next year,” DeYoung said. “This year we made the jump and it showed us that we can compete with anyone. We have to keep working and getting better but I really think that we have the type of team coming back that can bring it against anyone and go even further next year.”

That fire isn’t only burning in Cinco though, for Johnson the fire comes from fighting so close in the bi-district round for the second straight season, but narrowly coming up short, losing 3-2 in extra innings against Ridge Point in the deciding game of the series and falling to the Panthers in close fashion for the second straight year. The goal for Johnson and Seven Lakes is to get over that hump and find a way to push into the later playoff rounds.

“It still hurts and it's burning for sure,” Johnson said. “But you want to play against the best and Ridge Point is a really good team. We’re going to come back stronger though, there’s always next year and I think we can be a really good team.”