Marble Falls softball loses to Jarrell

CAPTION: Kierstyn Plumlee had four at-bats against Jarrell and got on base all four times. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School softball team lost to Jarrell 21-10 March 19 in District 24-4A play.

The Lady Cougars connected on four home runs during the six-inning contest, including one that was in the park. They raced to a 12-0 lead by the middle of the third inning.

That’s when the Lady Mustangs (2-3) responded. Kylie Roberts and Kallie Phillips each hit singles, while sophomore Jocelyn Suarez drew a walk. Cheyenne Thompson hit a bases-clearing stand-up double and later scored on a sacrifice flyball hit by Cheyenne Blair. Rylee Frisch and Kirsten Plumlee hit singles. Brooklynn Damico and Roberts each hit RBI singles to trim the deficit 12-6.

But Marble Falls trailed by six runs the rest of the way as Jarrell scored 4 runs in the fourth inning, 1 in the fifth and 4 in the sixth. The Lady Mustangs scored 4 in the fourth inning and were shut out four of the six innings.

For head coach Alex Lozoya, this game and the losses to Burnet a day earlier and Salado March 14 didn’t come down to hits or steals.

“Twenty-eight errors is not going to give you a chance to go compete,” he said. “Our defense to has to get better, and it starts with me in practice. But we had seven against Salado then later seven against Burnet and 14 today. Six of (Jarrell’s) 21 runs, in my book, were unearned. If there’s a bright spot, it’s the fact that we still have a chance to go win games I think we’re supposed to win.”

At the beginning of the week, Lozoya viewed the games against Burnet and Jarrell as opportunities in the final slate of contests in the first round of district play. Marble Falls was in third place behind Salado and Georgetown Gateway, the only undefeated teams in the district at that time. But the losses put Burnet and Jarrell in a tie for third with Marble Falls slipping to fifth.

At the beginning of district play, the Lady Mustangs thrived on making the routine plays look simple. Outfielders didn’t drop deeply-hit balls and even caught some in foul territory for outs. Because the infielders were square up when the grounders came to them, they fielded the ball and made solid throws to first base for the out. Even funny bounces didn’t faze them.

But during the last two contests, they simply struggled to make those plays.

“You have to go earn the right to be on offense by what you do on defense,” Lozoya said. “We just have to make plays.”

He doesn’t believe that the 11-0 loss to Burnet a day earlier factored into what happened against Jarrell, pointing out his players “were here, eager and ready.”

But he does believe his players “pressed” at the beginning of the contest where seven Lady Cougars went up to bat and scored 3 runs off 5 hits in the first inning. Meanwhile Jarrell forced Marble Falls to fly out to center field and threw out the second runner, who reached on a walk, trying to steal second. The third batter walked and got caught in a rundown between third and home to end the inning.

A fielding error allowed Jarrell to get its first batter on base in the second inning and later scored on a two-run homer for a 5-0 lead. Marble Falls had a total of four batters at the plate in the second inning and stranded two to keep the Jarrell shutout going until the next inning.

“We can’t be letting balls get through open legs,” the coach said. “Ten runs in a high school game should be more than enough to win. What our defense should know is we have pitchers who give us a chance to make plays. But if (opponents) get a hit and earn it, I would not be frustrated.”

Marble Falls will play at Elgin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in a non-district game.

Lozoya views that game as a new start to the rest of the season.

“Let’s play defense. Let’s hit it off the field,” he said. “Let’s take pride and play defense and then we’ll see where we finish. I want the kids to understand that there’s still a lot to play for in the second round. If we can find a way to take care of ourselves. We should be in a position to compete for something that matters in the last game of the year.”  

CAPTION: Shortstop Jocelyn Suarez was a tip of the glove away from making this out on a diving catch against Jarrell. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro