Burnet softball beats Marble Falls to end 1st round in district play
CAPTION: Marble Falls infielders Kylie Roberts (left) and Jocelyn Suarez have been big positives on offense and defense this season. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School softball team defeated Marble Falls 12-0 March 28 to finish the first round of District 24-4A play.
The Lady Dawgs needed only five innings.
Burnet entered this contest after squeaking out a 7-6 win against Jarrell March 26 where the Lady Cougars led 6-2 until the fifth inning. The Lady Dawgs scored a run in the fifth, 3 in the sixth and the winning run in the seventh.
Lozoya said it’s not uncommon for teams that escape with victories to play at a championship level the next time they compete.
The score may indicate Marble Falls played poorly, but that’s not the case, he said. When asked how many hits the Lady Dawgs had, he said, “Too many.”
“I honestly couldn’t tell you,” he said. “They had singles and doubles.”
Marble Falls (11-13, 0-5) switched pitchers when Burnet was going to bat the third time.
“Our pitchers and defense didn’t play bad,” the coach said. “(Freshman shortstop) Jocelyn Suarez and (junior second baseman) Kylie Roberts made some good plays that were not easy to make. (Senior outfielder) Aydan Ortis ran toward the fence to make catches. When our kids had opportunities to make plays, they made plays. We told them after the game, ‘The balls you had a chance to make plays, you made plays.’ Burnet earned their 12 runs.”
He was especially impressed with Burnet junior pitcher Presley Crawford and senior catcher Camrynn Guthrie, who combined for 12 strikeouts. Marble Falls got 3 hits — two singles from sophomore Cheyenne Thompson and one from Suarez — and drew 3 walks.
“Presley was on,” he said. “Ever since I saw her pitch the first time, I’ve liked the way she has presence in the circle. She’s different than (Georgetown Gateway junior pitcher) Chloe Ellis. Presley thinks ‘I can throw it past you. I can throw it this way, I can throw it that way.’ A big piece of her game that sometimes gets forgotten is her catcher.”
He noted that Guthrie’s ability, as a rightie, to catch Crawford’s pitches, as a leftie, entices umpires.
“We don’t have the movement that Presley has to make that 50-50 pitch (that can be called a foul ball) 100 percent a strike,” he said. “The way Camrynn sticks it and moves it and makes the umpire look at it — it’s her body position. It’s a great spot.”
At the beginning of the contest, the Lady Mustangs showed patience at the plate, but the 50-50 pitches were called strikes.
“We started swinging out of the zone cause our thinking was the umpire is going to call it (a strike) anyway,” Lozoya said. “The way Camrynn catches it says ‘it’s going to be a strike because I want it to be a strike.’ She has a high level for where it is going to be. Presley looks good and does a good job.”
Gateway beat Lago Vista 2-0 and Lampasas beat Jarrell 9-7. Lozoya indicated it wouldn’t surprise him if the games continue to be close the rest of the season.
“We have to keep swimming, we have to keep trending water,” he said. “I told the kids it’s Easter weekend. It’s a reset for everybody.”
Marble Falls welcomes Jarrell at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, to Scearce Field.
“The field looks amazing,” Lozoya said. “Special thanks to our field maintenance guys Jeff Hall and David Atwood for all they do for our kids.”
Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.
