Marble Falls baseball loses to Salado
CAPTION: Marble Falls junior shortstop Canon Cochran starts leaning down to tag the Salado Eagle out during a rundown in the first inning. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School baseball team lost to Salado 12-7 April 1 in a battle of undefeated teams in District 24-4A.
The Eagles (12-5-1, 7-0) struck first thanks to a two-out RBI double by B.J. Amann. But the threat ended thanks to a rundown between second and third when junior shortstop Canon Cochran tagged the runner out.
The Mustangs (10-10, 4-1) responded thanks to a double by freshman Cade Briseno that gave Marble Falls a 2-1 lead.
Just when it looked like Salado was going to add more runs in the second inning, freshman first baseman Anderson Liscum caught a line drive for an out and touched his bag for the double play. Sophomore pitcher John Alan Whittle struck out the next batter to force the Eagles to strand the runner in scoring position.
A groundout by Owen Curtis helped the Eagles tie the contest at 2-2 in the third inning.
But Marble Falls plated two runs in its half of the inning. Whittle reached on a single and freshman Crawford Mattox got on base because of an error. Sophomore Owen Nash had a sacrifice bunt to move the runners. A throwing error allowed Briseno to get to first and go to second while sending Whittle and Mattox home. The runs were scored after two outs, but Salado forced the Mustangs to strand three runners. Still the Mustangs led 4-2.
Salado took the lead for good in the fifth inning. A RBI single to right field brought home a runner, who reached after being hit by a pitch. A runner from second scored after an infielder dived and missed the ball. Another batter hit a 2 RBI single to right field for the 5-4 lead.
By the end, the Eagles scored a total of six runs for an 8-4 advantage during an inning where the Mustangs recorded two errors.
They scored four more in the sixth, while the Mustangs plated three for a 12-7 score.
Briseno drew a walk to begin the seventh inning and freshman Braxton Dicken singled to right field. But the other three batters all struck out to end the contest.
Salado pitcher Curtis struck out nine and walked two while allowing seven unearned runs in 5 and 2/3 innings.
Whittle allowed eight hits and five earned runs with a strikeout and no free bases in five innings.
In all, the Eagles had 11 hits led by Amann’s three hits in five at-bats.
Marble Falls head coach Tyler Porter noted the Mustangs still have plenty to play for, including a spot in the playoffs thanks to their record.
“In other games, we caught breaks,” he said. “(Against Salado), we didn’t. And the game was still 12-7. They scored first, and we answered back and then scored two. I thought we battled.”
Early in the contest, what was crucial was the Mustangs didn’t strike out and ran fast to first base, even on routine groundballs. The result was the Eagles had some errors that allowed Marble Falls to extend innings and score.
“We put the ball in play,” Porter said. “You force them to make outs. That’s our identity. Don’t be an easy out and see what happens. If you force kids to make plays, sometimes they don’t.”
The loss moved the Mustangs to third place in the district standings with Lampasas (13-4-2, 6-1) in second place. The Badgers crushed Georgetown Gateway 11-4 April 1. Burnet (10-7, 2-5) stomped Taylor 11-4, also on April 1, to be in fourth place. Jarrell was on a bye.
Marble Falls is at Salado to finish the series at 7 p.m. Friday, April 4.
“We played some good baseball, and we didn’t catch some breaks,” Porter said. “We didn’t accomplish all we wanted. We can be mad about it and hang our heads. Or we can go play.”
CAPTION: Sophomore Owen Nash lays down this bunt to move runners into scoring position that gave the Mustangs the lead. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
