Marble Falls baseball beats Jarrell, qualifies for the playoffs

CAPTION: Junior pitcher Canon Cochran (left) and freshman pitcher Crawford Mattox combine to ensure Jarrell doesn’t score another run. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School baseball team defeated Jarrell 6-1 April 23 in game that took two nights to complete.

The victory coupled with Salado’s 2-0 win against Taylor April 22 puts the Mustangs into the Class 4A Division I playoffs.

They will face China Spring in best-of-three series at Jarrell High School. Game one is Wednesday, April 30, and game two is Thursday, May 1. Both games begin at 6:30 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will be at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 2.

Mustangs head coach Tyler Porter said the reason for the Wednesday start is because of a number of activities happening that weekend. The biggest is prom Saturday, May 3.

“We’ve had some success on that field,” he said of Jarrell’s ball park. “The big thing for our kids is getting experience.”

The Jarrell matchup started April 22 in Jarrell with neither team willing to give an inch. But after four innings, lightning was detected.

By then the Cougars had taken a 1-0 lead on a line drive to center field that brought home the Cougars’ run after the lead-off batter drove a ball to center field for a triple.

Five complete innings must be played for a game to have a declared winner, according to rules of the University Interscholastic League. So when lightning was detected and a delay ensued, officials decided to finish the next day.

Marble Falls needed to win at least one of the final two games or have Salado sweep Taylor to secure a playoff berth.

So when the Mustangs returned to Jarrell April 23, Porter handed the ball to junior pitcher Canon Cochran.

Cochran hadn’t been available to pitch since the outing against Johnson City March 28. He gave the Mustangs two solid innings, where Jarrell had only one batter reach base on a walk.

Marble Falls finally got the bats going in the sixth inning. Sophomore Owen Nash got on thanks to a single to left field. When junior Atreyu Machacek also singled to left field, Nash never stopped running and found himself at third base. That allowed Machacek to steal second.

Then freshman Cade Briseno hit a ball to the shortstop, who immediately threw home. But it wasn’t in time as Nash scored and Machacek went to third. The inning ended on a strikeout and a groundout.

After Cochran forced a groundout, allowed a walk, a strikeout and a groundout, the Mustangs became incredibly offensive at the top of the seventh inning.

Junior Grant Carter led off with a line drive double to center field, while Cochran added a double to right field. Sophomore John Alan Whittle hit a 2 RBI single to left field and scored on a triple to left field by freshman Crawford Mattox. Nash hit a sacrifice fly ball to left field to bring Mattox home. Briseno scored on a line drive by freshman Anderson Liscum, who was called out at second.

But the Mustangs took a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Then Mattox closed it out.

Marble Falls scored 6 earned runs off 9 hits and a walk while striking out 11 times. Six of those hits came in the seventh inning.

Whittle led with 2 RBI followed by Mattox, Nash, Briseno and Liscum with one apiece.

Jarrell pitcher Jordan Schwertner allowed 5 earned runs off 7 hits and a walk and struck out 10 in six innings.

“He’s good,” Porter said. “We’ve watched him for three years. He’s a good high school pitcher. We figured him out the third time through the lineup.”

Jarrell scored 1 earned run off 4 hits, all on April 22. The next day, all the Cougars could muster were two walks.

The coach pointed out that pitching and defense didn’t dip throughout the two-day game.

Whittle began the game April 22, allowing 4 hits and a run in four innings. He threw about 50 pitches.

Porter said he didn’t consider putting Whittle back on the mound for a second consecutive day.

“I think it’s unhealthy,” he said.

He didn’t know how long Cochran could go. But after the junior hurler threw eight pitches in the fifth inning, the coach asked, “You want another inning?”

“He felt good,” Porter said. “He threw about 20 pitches.”

And the defense was solid in making every routine play and not committing an error.

“They’ve been great all year,” the coach said. “There were a lot of strikeouts and a lot of ground balls. There were routine singles for outs. The defense has been steadfast.”

Even Porter struggled to describe the beginning of this game, crediting Jarrell for “scratching out a run.”

And he also praised his players, particularly Nash and Briseno for tying the game and Carter for jumpstarting the offense in the seventh inning.

“Once the door opened, it happened,” he said of the Mustangs’ scoring multiple runs. “It’s that inconsistency of youth. Our young team will sometimes have off days.”

Right now they are learning that it’s possible to be focused and still have fun at the same time, the coach said. Once they can bring a healthy balance of the two, playing consistently well will show, he added.

“You have to learn to flip the focus switch on,” he said.

Marble Falls will end the regular season by welcoming Jarrell at 7 p.m. Friday, April 25. As part of the senior festivities, Brenton Liscum will start at pitcher.

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Owen Nash got the Mustangs going offensively thanks to reaching base and scoring their first run against Jarrell April 23. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro