Marble Falls baseball beats Taylor
CAPTION: Sophomore John Alan Whittle (left) and freshman Crawford Mattox exchange a fist pump as the two combine to score runs for the Mustangs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School baseball team crushed Taylor 9-1 April 15 in District 24-4A play.
The Mustangs (11-13, 5-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning only to see the Ducks (5-16-1, 3-6) tie it on a grounder in the third inning.
In the fourth inning, junior Andrew Elwartowski singled to drive in a run then freshman Cade Briseno hit a single to bring in a run for a 3-1 advantage.
Head coach Tyler Porter said it felt more comfortable “once it opened up and the offense kicked it into gear.”
Marble Falls added to the run total in the sixth inning. Junior Canon Cochran was hit by a pitch to score a run. An error brought two more home, and freshman Crawford Mattox had 2 RBI off a single.
Crawford hit a double in the fourth and fifth innings and a single in the sixth inning to lead the offense.
Ducks pitcher Conner Woods allowed 3 earned runs off 6 hits and 3 walks without a strikeout in five innings. Taylor pitchers faced a total of 25 batters.
Porter said Woods’ delivery was different from what the Mustangs have faced. If a pitcher’s primary goal is to keep batters guessing, then Woods was effective.
“(We) couldn’t quite figure it out,” the coach said. “It just didn’t look like it should. He threw a breaking ball that broke but didn’t spin. It was an odd-kind-of feeling. Credit to the kid.”
Woods also had his team’s only RBI.
Marble Falls sophomore pitcher John Alan Whittle allowed 1 run off 3 hits and a walk and struck out four in seven innings.
“He only threw maybe 80 pitches,” Porter said. “I always pull him in the seventh. But he said he wanted to finish.”
Overall, it was a solid team win that snapped a four-game losing streak after the Mustangs began the district campaign with a four-game winning streak.
Porter noted the Mustangs don’t get too high after wins or too low after losses. They are consistent and steady in their preparation and typically don’t get caught up in the emotions of a contest.
“I think they do a good job of going game to game,” he said.
The magic number for qualifying for the playoffs is two – either sweeping Taylor in the series finale or hoping that Salado will beat the Ducks next week while Marble Falls faces Jarrell.
Marble Falls will travel to Taylor to complete the series Thursday, April 17, then go to Jarrell Tuesday, April 24. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
