Faith Academy baseball splits games with Waco Reicher

CAPTION: Faith Academy senior pitcher Nash Renfro. Photo by Stennis Shotts

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls baseball team beat Waco Reicher 6-5 April 5 after losing to the Cougars 2-1 April 2.

Flames head coach Rob Ellis noted this split in District 3, Division IV of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools was invaluable.

“The momentum was definitely in their favor,” Ellis said.

Senior pitcher Nash Renfro was on the mound and helped Faith earn a 6-3 lead by the bottom of the sixth inning of the April 5 contest. But before he could finish the inning, Nash reached his limit on pitches. Ellis turned to his son, freshman Austin Ellis, to finish the contest.

At that point, the Cougars had scored two runs and were feeling good. The coach pointed out the crowd was loud and giving energy to the home team.

A runner was on second, who tried to steal third on junior catcher Carter Fromberg. Without hesitation, Fromberg fired to third in time for the out.

That play changed the complexion of the game, Rob Ellis said.

“You could hear a pin drop,” he said. “That was the momentum shifter.”

That play fulfilled what the catcher had told the Cougar who tried to steal third earlier in the game. Fromberg said him he’d throw him out before the contest ended.

“It’s why Carter is one of the captains,” the coach said. “Wade Dillard, our third baseman – all he had to do was drop his glove.”

All of the sudden a rowdy and loud environment became deathly quiet.

“They got a lot aggressive and tried to steal third,” the coach said. “Then Austin struck out the next kid. That was kind of a big inning.”

The younger Ellis returned to the mound in the bottom of the seventh and “struck out the side” for the win. That’s four consecutive strikeouts to end the contest.

Nash tried to pitch in the first game but couldn’t go. So the Flames turned to freshman Braxton Blair. The coach commended the two newcomers for their play.

“He pitched five innings and only gave up one run,” the coach said. “Braxton and Austin are freshmen playing on a varsity team. The amount of confidence they gained is huge. We’re going to have those two boys pitch a lot and learn as we go because that’s our chance to make the playoffs. You have two fierce pitchers. They’re finding their groove.”

It also helped having outfielders with speed such as senior Cross Sanchez.

“He caught a ball in center field,” Rob Ellis said. “I think he ran 80 yards. There might be two kids in district who can catch that ball. Cross plays great defense.”

Rob Ellis pointed out the Flames scored six runs in the second match-up, which helped the defense concentrate on making plays and the pitchers to pound the strike zone.

“We’d not previously been looking confident at the plate,” he said. “Last week’s focus was about timing.”

The Flames worked on matching up their momentum to when the pitcher is starting his throw. That equals less than a second. What Ellis noticed is the Flames were waiting too long to start their momentum.

“You can see a bad swing,” he said. “A guy with good momentum who doesn’t look good in the game, it’s because of the timing.”

The Flames were much better at the plate April 5 with six batters recording hits.

But the turning point, he said, came on a bases loaded line drive to center field.

“It was caught,” the coach said. “All our guys tagged up. Cross Sanchez scored. Austin was on second. I noticed the pitcher didn’t back up the catcher. (Speculating on a bad throw home), I never had Austin stop. Nash got 2 RBI off a sacrifice flyball. Nash won the game with his bat. He had 2 singles but 3 RBI. Austin had a RBI.”

Rob Ellis said his team left the ball park April 2 believing the outcome should have been different. He was happy it was different three days later.

“Gutty performance by Nash, we had freshmen step up,” he said. “it was a great senior-freshman combo.”

The Flames entered this series after losing both games to Bryan Brazos Christian a week earlier.

Faith Academy welcomes Waco Live Oak at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, at the YMCA of the Highland Lakes in Burnet and travels to Waco Friday, April 12, for a 6 p.m. first pitch.

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