Burnet baseball beats Jarrell
CAPTION: Drake Milam (left) and Trey Morrow are two of the big hitters for the Bulldogs in shutting out Jarrell. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School baseball team defeated Jarrell 15-0 in five innings April 8 in District 24-4A play.
The Bulldogs (11-7, 3-5) seized control immediately, plating two runs in the first inning, two in the second, and seven in the third.
Tate Lambert, Cooper Alexander, Trey Morrow, Drake Milam and Alex Cantrill each had 2 RBI, while Khris Kassner, Noah Crawford, Alexander and Morrow had extra base hits.
“Obviously, they’re physically talented,” head coach Russell Houston said. “When they get things rolling, they’re pretty good. They can swing it a little bit and get stuff going. It’s game by game, inning by inning. We had several two-out hits with base runners on. When you work at it, it becomes easier.”
When one Bulldog gets on base, it sends a signal to his teammates that they can, too, Houston said.
“Baseball is a mental game,” he said. “Hitting is contagious. It becomes almost expected.”
Senior pitcher Rhett Murray threw all five innings against Jarrell (4-16, 1-5) in what Houston called “great pitching.”
“Rhett threw (a total of) 45 pitches,” Houston said. “He … let the defense play behind him. He had a five-pitch inning, an eight-pitch inning. They put a lot of balls in play and a lot of balls that were easier outs. There were only one or two hits. He was very consistent in what he did, and he trusted his team behind him.”
The Bulldogs’ quick offensive start propelled so much of the contest to go in their favor. In many ways, it was reminiscent of what makes this program a tough out.
“They have more and more confidence as the game goes on,” Houston said. “Anytime you can jump out on anybody and score three or four early, it puts a little bit of doubt for anybody. We’ve been able to come back from things like that because of how we’ve fought back. We’ve done it before. If you’ve never done it, it becomes difficult to do. You remember the successes you’ve had in the past.”
The series finishes at 7 p.m. Friday, April 11, at Bulldog Diamonds.
