Marble Falls baseball loses Taylor
CAPTION: Junior pitcher Atreyu Machacek kept the Taylor Ducks guessing. He allowed very few hits and even fewer free bases. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School baseball team lost to Taylor 4-3 in 10 innings April 17 in District 24-4A play.
The Mustangs (11-14, 5-5) scored in the second inning when freshman catcher Braxton Dicken hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop that brought home sophomore Owen Nash, who reached on a lead-off single, for a 1-0 lead.
The Ducks (6-16-1, 4-6) tied the contest at 1-1 on a double to center field after the lead-off batter reached on a single to center field.
They took the lead in the bottom of the third inning on an error to third base.
The Mustangs regained the lead in the fifth inning. Dicken led off with walk and went to second on a wild pitch. Junior Grant Carter hit a ground ball to the shortstop but went to second on an error that sent Dicken home. Junior Canon Cochran singled to right field and sophomore John Alan Whittle hit a line drive single to center field to bring Carter home and advance Cochran to third. But the Ducks got out of it thanks to a double play and a pop-up.
Mustangs head coach Tyler Porter noted the double play was started on a hit by freshman Crawford Mattox.
“Mattox hit the ball the hardest he’s hit all year,” said Porter, who serves as the team’s third base coach. “He hit the ball so hard to the third baseman, I thought it was going to take his hand off. But as he turned to make the catch, his momentum took him to the bag. All he had to do was touch it for the double play.”
He added that had Marble Falls scored on that play, he believes the Mustangs would have added more in that inning and the outcome changes.
Taylor tied the game at 3-3 on a sacrifice fly ball after the runner reached first on an error.
The Ducks scored on a sacrifice fly ball hit by the second batter after the first batter was walked – the only walk closer Mattox issued.
Taylor scored two earned runs off six hits and two walks and struck out 10 times.
Junior pitcher Atreyu Machacek allowed 1 earned run off 3 hits with a walk and 2 strikeouts in six innings. Mattox allowed 1 earned run off 3 hits and a walk while striking out eight, including striking out all three batters he faced in the bottom of the eighth and the ninth innings, in four innings.
“Pitching was encouraging,” Porter said.
Marble Falls scored three earned runs off eight hits and four walks and struck out eight times. Whittle and Dicken had 1 RBI apiece.
“Our offense wasn’t what it should have been,” Porter said. “The discouraging part was our offense. The offense frustrated me. We have young kids being young kids.”
He pointed to the 10 strikeouts as evidence, which illustrated a lack of patience at the plate as there were anxious swings and chasing bad pitches.
“The first (Taylor pitcher) wasn’t bad. We adjusted later,” the coach said. “Once we did, they pulled him. So credit to them. We couldn’t get the timely hit.”
In addition, he said the Ducks also made some solid defensive plays in getting to balls that are hits to the gaps in other games.
When asked if he thought the Ducks were playing for their season, Porter said, “I’m sure they did. I told (my players) ‘if we let them hang around, they’re going to feel like they can win.’ There were just some breaks that didn’t go our way. If we go up 4-1 pretty quickly, they lose some of that momentum. So credit them.”
As for the playoffs, Marble Falls still needs a combination of two:
Either split the season series with Jarrell and have Salado (15-8-1, 9-1) split the season series with Taylor. Or the Mustangs sweeping Jarrell or Salado sweeping Taylor.
With Lampasas (18-5-2, 10-2) splitting the series with Salado, the Eagles must win out to be the district champions. The Badgers have the district bye.
Game one is at Jarrell Tuesday, April 22, and game two is at Scearce Field on the Marble Falls High School campus Friday, April 25. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
“We still control our own destiny,” said Porter, noting winning out and getting momentum for the postseason is a good start to the playoffs.
CAPTION: Freshman pitcher Crawford Mattox was filled the role of closer beautifully. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
