Marble Falls softball beats Taylor in district opener
CAPTION: The Lady Mustangs surround and tap the black helmet of Kylie Roberts (27) after she touches home plate following a big home run over the center-left field wall in the third inning. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School softball team stomped Taylor 10-4 March 5 in the District 24-4A opener.
The Lady Mustangs (1-0) put all the elements together where they made every routine play, strung together hits and didn’t flinch at an early deficit.
“Good win, good win for the girls. Happy for them,” head coach Alex Lozoya said. “They’re starting to break out.”
The game couldn’t have started better for the Lady Ducks (0-1). Three of their first 4 hitters hit doubles for a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
After the Lady Mustangs went three up, three down, Taylor hit another double and a RBI single for a 3-0 advantage. That compelled Lozoya to make a pitching change.
Callie Phillips entered the circle, which moved Jocelyn Suarez to catcher, Brooklyn Damico to second base and Kylie Roberts to shortstop.
The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice where Damico got the grounder to Roberts for the out. The next two batters hit a flyball for the second out and a ground ball to third baseman Cheyenne Thompson, who threw to first baseman Sophia Biagini for the final out.
Though the Lady Mustangs scored only one run in the second inning, it was a big one. Khloe Hollingsworth sent a home run over the center-left field wall to trim the deficit to 3-1.
Lozoya has been saying that Hollingsworth is the team’s breakout player. At a time when they needed someone to be offensive, Hollingsworth answered the call.
“She did it off the plate, she made a couple of plays in left field that really helped the team out that she made look easy,” he said. “She’s starting to get into her groove and get comfortable.”
The Lady Ducks responded with their own home run in the third inning for a 4-1 advantage, but it was their last of the contest.
That’s because every time Taylor had a hit, they couldn’t get another one to move the runner thanks in large part to Phillips’ pitching and the defense. After the lead-off batter hit a single in the fourth inning, two of the next three batters struck out. The other out was a shot to Hollingsworth.
By then, Marble Falls had trimmed the deficit to 4-3 because of back-to-back solo homers by Roberts and Phillips in the third inning.
Then the Lady Mustangs had their most productive inning of the game.
In the fourth inning, Hollingsworth led off with a double, while Cheyenne Blair reached first on a dropped third strike where the infielder couldn’t make the play. Hollingsworth raced around the bases and scored. Biagini hit a RBI double to center-left field, and Rylee Frisch had a sacrifice bunt to move her. Suarez hit a RBI single to left field, while Roberts reached on an error. Phillips hit a 2 RBI single to right field, and Thompson followed that with a single to center field.
In all 10 batters contributed 5 runs on 5 hits to give the Lady Mustangs a commanding 8-4 advantage. Much of that damage came with two outs.
“Rylee Frisch had a big bunt that shows big time buying into get the runners on and get moving and then later on, got a hit to get herself on the mats. I think she ended up scoring,” Lozoya said. “I think the kids did a good job of standing in and putting the barrel on the ball. District games require more discipline, they require a little more sharpness and focus. Everybody did a great job with that.”
The two-out runs were huge, he said.
“(The defense thinks) ‘is it ever going to end or is this on us?’ Or ‘what do we got to do to finish it?'” the coach said. “And on the offensive side, it’s ‘we still got a little run in us.'”
Phillips had 3 RBI off 2 hits, while Suarez, Roberts, Thompson, Hollingsworth, Biagini and Frisch each had 1. Biagini, Roberts and Hollingsworth each had 3 hits.
And then the Lady Mustangs simply went to work on defense. Phillips (1-0) allowed 1 earned run off 6 hits and struck out 3 in 6 innings. She faced 24 batters and threw 53 of her 81 pitches for strikes.
“Callie Phillips came in in relief and did a great job against a team that swings it very well and that’s very aggressive,” the coach said. “We have to continue to heavily rely on our pitching and defense to give us a chance to be where we want to be. Our defense did what we expect, what we asked them to do, which is to play defense and give us a chance.”
Lozoya also praised the work of assistant coaches Hailey Wooten and Aspen Howie. Defensively, Wooten coaches the infielders and Howie coaches the outfielders. All seven of their athletes made every routine out or play as the Lady Mustangs didn’t record an error. He said the trio create practices designed to test their athletes with the aim of physically and mentally preparing them for the adversity that every game brings.
“You saw Aspen Howie and Haley Wooten at work,” Lozoya said. “Tonight was a big reflection of what they do as coaches, what they do as mentors for the girls on and off the field. Tonight was big for everybody, and I’m glad to give a lot of credit to coach Howie and coach Wooten. I think the biggest thing is now that it helps to have coaches that have a passion for kids, have a passion for coaching.”
Marble Falls is at Georgetown Gateway Friday, March 7, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow.
CAPTION: Callie Phillips was incredibly effective in the circle and equally successful at the plate in helping the Lady Mustangs to the District 24-4A win in the district opener. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
