Bulldogs to use tourney results to get better for district
The Burnet High School baseball team lost both games it played in the Blanco Tournament March 12. The Bulldogs (4-4-1, 1-0 District 19-4A) fell to Houston Lutheran South Academy 14-3 and to Iowa Park 10-3.
“The two teams we played played really, really well,” Burnet head coach Russell Houston said. “And we made (several) errors in each game.”
Those errors made it especially tough on the pitching staff and the defense, Houston said. Lutheran scored 14 runs off 11 hits and capitalized on six Bulldog errors to win in a contest that ended in four innings, and Iowa Park scored 10 runs off 10 hits while Burnet committed eight errors.
Houston said the solution to lessening the number of errors is good old-fashion hard work.
“You have to get tons and tons of reps,” he said. “(Athletes) have to play with a positive attitude. One mistake can lead to two or three mistakes. They have to learn to let that one go and move on to the next rep. You have to mentally get over that hurdle.”
Errors can be contagious if players don’t put them in perspective. They can lead to pitchers throwing more than they should and more runs for the opponent.
“You have to have a short memory and hold onto the positive things,” Houston added. “It’s probably the hardest thing to do sometimes. It’s probably one of the most difficult things to do is clear the mechanism.”
Burnet pitcher Ian Cantrill had two strikeouts in four innings against Iowa Park.
Jackson Crawford led the Burnet offensive effort against Lutheran South Academy with 2 RBIs.
The Bulldogs return to district play with a road game at Georgetown Gateway at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 15.
“We’re going to move onto the next phase of what we have to do,” Houston said.
