Marble Falls softball aims to apply lessons from last season
CAPTION: Marble Falls pitcher Camille Catalfamo returns with more self-confidence and improved mechanics for the 2024 season. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The 2024 Marble Falls High School softball team looks to build on what it began last year.
That’s according to head coach Alejandro Alex Lozoya, who is starting his second season at the helm. The season begins at Round Rock McNeil at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13.
The biggest difference between this team and the 2023 squad that finished fifth in District 24-4A is depth, Lozoya said. Eight lettermen return from last season.
“We have options on the field,” he said. “Nobody is pigeon holed in a certain spot. It’s who’s going to be the better option here. I have been pleasantly surprised at where we are now from where we were last year.”
The squad returns junior pitcher Camille Catalfamo and sophomore pitcher Marisol Ramos.
“They were still developing as pitchers last year,” the coach said.
The coach said during the pre-district season, because of the number of games at tournaments that have a time limit, it’s difficult to equally split innings. But he’ll put both in the circle.
Freshman Jocelyn Suarez and Emma Cayce are splitting time at catcher though the coach said both will play other positions when they’re not behind the plate.
“Both of those young ladies are very athletic and well rounded in the sport,” Lozoya said. “Jocelyn has been a spark. She plays year around. That’s a kid who has a passion for softball. She’s one kid who doesn’t realize her leadership qualities.”
Cayce returns to the program after taking a year off. The reason? Because she saw how Lozoya and his staff were running the program.
“I saw the things you and the coaches are doing and the excitement,” she told him. “I wanted to be apart of it.”
Other players include sophomore Cheyenne Thompson and Aiden Ortis, the team’s lone senior. The only player the team is awaiting is junior Kylie Roberts, who is a starting forward for the Lady Mustangs basketball team.
“We have a lot of depth all the way around,” Lozoya said.
He told the players if they wanted to be great at the sport, they had to spend time doing it. That includes being in batting cages and fielding balls. The coach praised his players, especially Catalfamo, for devoting the time in the offseason to improving.
“If this is what she wants, she has to get better at it,” he recalled telling her family. “She put in the work on her own to get better and have more awareness on her mechanics. She became better, and there’s still a lot of room to grow. She came back more confident.”
Lozoya also commended parents for ensuring their daughters put in the time.
“If you want your kid to perform well in athletics, you have to commit to developing your athlete,” he recalled saying. “Don’t treat it as something that happens during the softball season. We need your kids here lifting weights and working on the field. We’re about developing the culture with city leagues, recreation leagues and select and middle school.”
Marble Falls finished the scrimmage season against two teams known for their softball programs: Johnson City and Llano. The Lady Jackets won 25 games a year ago and reached the Class 3A quarterfinals. The Lady Eagles won the District 29-2A championship by going 15-0. The two gave the Lady Mustangs a glimpse of what they’ll face in district play where Burnet is the defending district champion.
Two of the most important additions to the program happened during the summer when Hailey Wooten and Aspen Howie joined Lozoya’s staff as assistant coaches. Howie was a four-year letterman at Lake Travis High School where she was an all-state, all-district and offensive Most Valuable Player. She was a redshirt senior at the University of Houston where she was an outfielder in 2022. Wooten, who is a 2013 Marble Falls High School graduate and played softball at Tarleton State University, was the Burnet head coach for three years before joining the Lady Mustangs.
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