Marble Falls baseball splits with Stephenville

CAPTION: Freshman Crawford Mattox fouls a ball to stay alive at the plate and later picks up the RBI. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School baseball team beat Stephenville 4-3 in the second game of the doubleheader Feb. 22 after the Yellow Jackets won the first contest 10-6.

In the first game, Marble Falls plated five runs in the third inning on one hit for a 5-2 lead. But Stephenville answered by scoring four runs in the fifth inning after the Mustangs had two outs.

Marble Falls sophomore pitcher John Alan Whittle started the game and pitched about three innings. While he may not have had the staggering individual stats, Whittle’s ability to throw the timely pitch and keep Stephenville off balance resulted in the Yellow Jackets inability to string together hits or free bases and frustrated their coaches.

Marble Falls head coach Tyler Porter said this contest summed up so much about life.

“You can do everything right and still not get the result,” he said. “There was a lot of stuff that just didn’t work out. He’s where he needs to be, and I’m happy with his progress. He hasn’t played much because of injury. For him to be playing is outstanding. Our offense needs to come along some. We walked more guys than we did in scrimmages.”

In the second contest, shortstop Whittle started a double play to keep the game scoreless. With the bases loaded and one out, Whittle caught a ground ball and touched the bag before throwing to first for the double play.

Meanwhile, sophomore Casey Layton hit a two-out line drive to left field to give the Mustangs a 3-0 lead.

Stephenville answered with two runs, but freshman Braxton Dicken hit a line drive to first base that brought in a run for a 4-2 advantage in the sixth inning.

Junior pitcher Canon Cochran (1-0) kept the run count low. The Mustangs were leading 3-2 when he exited, giving way for junior pitcher Atreus Machacek (1) to pick up the save.

Machacek struck out the last batter with the tying run at third base.

Dicken was the catcher for both games.

“He did a good job overall,” the coach said. “He’s performing at a varsity level – that’s good. His learning is going to shorten up fast. There’s definitely stuff to work on. He’s a mentally tough kid, and he’ll do well.”

The doubleheader against Stephenville was the result of officials canceling the Fredericksburg Tournament because of the weather.

“We need to cut down on the opportunities for the lead-off and nine-hole hitters,” Porter said. “Overall, it was a pretty good performance.”

Marble Falls welcomes Navarro Geronimo for a 6 p.m. varsity only game Tuesday, Feb. 25.

CAPTION: Freshman Braxton Dicken slides back to first base before the first baseman can tag him out. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro