Marble Falls baseball has positives Fredericksburg tourney

The Marble Falls High School baseball team posted a 3-1 record during its first weekend of play.

The Mustangs beat Austin Regents 17-3, Llano 9-4 and Austin McCallum 7-4 and lost to Big Spring 3-1.

“We’re right about where I thought we’d be,” head coach Tyler Porter said, adding tournaments present various challenges for teams. That’s because they test the depth of a roster and the game conditioning of players.

That’s why Porter moved some players for the final game of the event.

“We sat some guys,” he said. “We started some freshmen, and we think these guys are going to help us. The younger kids will keep getting better. We have a 3-1 start. We’re not unhappy at all.”

He noted one of the bright spots of the event were the three batters that are atop of the line-up led by senior Evan Nickowski, who started two contests with homers.

“He might have reached base on most of his at-bats,” the coach said. “Our top three – we know they’re good hitters.”

Other Mustangs used the tournament to show coaches their desire to contribute, too. Marble Falls had 11 hits against McCallum, 8 against Llano and 12 against Regents. Senior Sergio Hernandez and junior Mark Villalobos “got the opportunities this weekend and did their jobs,” Porter said.

“Some of our guys who hadn’t done it stepped up and did it,” he said. “Some of those guys who hadn’t hit much did so, and I was real pleased. The phrase we use is keep the line moving, get the bat to the next guy who’s on deck to the plate.”

Producing hits like that also shows the Mustangs’ discipline, which illustrates how picky they were on pitch selection.

“We did a good job without chasing,” the coach said. “We’re not being overly aggressive. We’re not being overly anxious. We want to keep the line moving.”

Meanwhile, Marble Falls is displaying its ability to play sound defense without giving opponents extra chances.

“We were errorless the first 2 games,” Porter said.

The biggest challenge for the Mustangs was they played at 9 a.m. each day of the event. That meant being on the bus to leave by 6:45 a.m. each day.

“They’re getting up earlier than teenagers are used to,” Porter said. “On Saturday morning we were dragging. One of the bright spots was we pulled several off the bench.”

But he believes the extra reps did the Mustangs plenty of good, particularly the newcomers to the varsity who will be relied on for positive contributions.

“Defensively overall, I was happy overall,” he said.

Marble Falls will play in the Llano Tournament Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 29-March 2. The Mustangs face Elgin at 10:30 a.m. and Fredericksburg at 1 p.m. both Thursday at Burnet High School, Llano at noon Friday at Llano High School, and Copperas Cove junior varsity at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Burnet High School.

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