Burnet baseball sweeps Taylor
CAPTION: Burnet second baseman Macke Calhoun catches the ball for the routine out at first. He covered the base when his teammates moved forward to field a bunt. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School baseball team beat Taylor 5-2 April 4 in a District 24-4A contest that moved to Burnet.
Heavy rains may have factored into the decision.
That victory meant the Bulldogs swept the Ducks after winning the first game April 1 11-4.
Burnet is enjoying a three-game winning streak, its longest since four in a row at its own tournament in early March, and is firmly in the playoff hunt.
“We are in a gotta win, gotta win a lot of games (mentality),” head coach Russell Houston said. “We have four left, and we have to win three out of the four.”
That begins with a road trip to Jarrell (4-14, 1-5) Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m.
Houston believes successful teams must play solid defense throughout a game and be offensive at key moments in every inning, and the Bulldogs done that during their district winning streak.
During the 5-2 victory against Taylor (3-15-1, 1-5), pitchers Cooper Faris and Rhett Murray took to the mound to keep the Ducks’ run scoring low.
Then Tate Lambright led with 2 RBI followed by Trey Morrow, Cooper Alexander and Matthew Valdez with one apiece.
Pitchers Valdez and Mason Watson set the tone for the series in the first contest. And teammates Khris Kassner, Charles Edwards, Cason O’Hair and Alex Cantrill recorded doubles to put the game out of reach. And an Alexander home run didn’t hurt either.
The streak started with an 8-3 victory against Lampasas (14-4-2, 7-1) March 28. Faris set the course for success on the mound by allowing 3 runs off 2 hits with 7 strikeouts. And Cantrill and Valdez had “big hits” to bring home the runs.
“The key to winning high school games is making all the routine plays and two-out hitting,” Houston said. “Your chances increase.”
The Bulldogs faced what turned out to be the top three teams in the district first – Marble Falls, Salado and Lampasas. Going into the series against the Badgers, those three teams combined for a 16-0 district record.
Since then Salado (14-5-1, 8-0) has emerged as the only undefeated team left after sweeping Marble Falls (10-11, 4-2) 12-7 and 9-2.
“I think there’s a lot of talented teams in this district,” Houston said. “It’s high school baseball. Every kid is going to go through a slump.”
When it happens, he said, the experienced players must go back to basics.
“Trust the process,” the coach said. “They can find ways when it’s not perfect. Winning is contagious, hitting is contagious. On the flip side, so is not hitting, so is losing. Let your kids trust things will be OK. We take it inning by inning and pitch by pitch. Let’s find a way to get three outs and simplify things. If they commit to those things, you give yourself a chance to win. If you can find that one win, you can start rolling.”
The other key is the ability to finish by “getting that last first out.”
“Let’s figure out what we have to do to get a win this inning,” he said.
Because the Bulldogs have enjoyed recent success — they are the defending district champions and won a bi-district title last year — they lean on their “experience and mental fortitude,” Houston said.
“They’ve done it before,” he said. “They’ve gone through the mental process. It’s a complete mental shift in the kiddos and fighting through. Baseball is such a mental game. You have to be able to be as consistent as you can and play at a high level.”
CAPTION: Tate Lambright has 2 RBI to lead the Bulldogs win a series win against Taylor April 4. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
