Marble Falls baseball ends season with loss to Jarrell

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior Evan Nickowski made his final appearance in a Mustang uniform a memorable one thanks to two home runs against Jarrell. Photo by Stennis Shotts

The Marble Falls High School baseball team lost to Jarrell 9-5 April 25 to end the 2024 campaign.

The Mustangs (8-19, 1-14) were paced by senior Evan Nickowski’s two solo home runs in the first and third innings. Sophomore Atreyu Machacek had 2 RBI, while freshman Owen Nash hit a triple and sophomore Canon Cochran recorded a hit.

“It was the last game of the year, so I let some kids do some things,” head coach Tyler Porter said. “We had younger kids play different positions, we gave kids a few at-bats who hadn’t played a lot.”

Youth was a big part of the Mustangs’ season. The final contest wasn’t any different. Of the nine field positions, six featured underclassmen.

“Age is definitely a big factor,” Porter said. “We had six different freshmen on varsity. Four contributed regularly and two who started every game.”

Many of the rosters in District 24-4A featured players who are weeks away from graduating and have spent time in their campus weight rooms getting stronger. They’re also faster. These players are closer to being men than being boys.

Those athletes made plays — such as throwing from one base to the other — look effortless as the ball was delivered on time and put in a spot where the baseman could catch it for the out. They don’t make errors and allow very few extra bases. There’s little hesitation to throw the ball because these athletes knew where to go to limit the damage.

Porter noted these Mustangs will be able to do that, too. It just takes time and experience.

“This year with our freshmen, we looked at it as getting them up to speed,” he said. “They play (15-and-under) baseball and there’s no U18.”

Porter emphasized the 1-14 District 24-4A record wasn’t the result of lack of effort by the players and the coaches.

“Our kids never stopped competing,” he said. “Our kids battled and competed. We never lost them. Nobody accepts losing. They understand the expectation is to be in the playoffs.”

Of the 14 losses, four were by a single run. One was by three runs and another was by 4.

The good news for the program is the sport has back-to-back classes of athletes coming who love the sport and have put in the time to get better.

“We have rising freshmen who could factor into varsity,” Porter said. “I envision some who’ll have opportunities.”

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