The Marble Falls High School softball team went 1-1 in District 24-4A spring break contests.
The Lady Mustangs defeated Jarrell 6-5 thanks to a sacrifice flyball by junior Jocelyn Suarez in the top of the seventh inning March 18 on the road.
That win came on the heels of losing to Burnet 15-5 at home a day earlier.
On the first pitch to Lady Mustangs lead-off batter Callie Phillips, the sophomore hit a solo home run over the left field wall for their only lead at 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
”She got a good stroke of it and it hung a little bit,” Marble Falls head coach Alex Lozoya said. “I was worried that it wouldn’t go out. There was big momentum going forward. And I don’t think we capitalized on it further down the lineup.”
Burnet answered in the top of the second inning. Senior Carlee Williams hit a two-out single then scored on a RBI double by Lacie Lewis to tie the game at 1-1.
Burnet took the lead for good in the third inning. Denton hit a double to center field and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior left fielder Payten Allen. Kendall Winkley hit a RBI double to left field and Abby Bennight beat a throw to first base for an infield single.
After another out, Hannah Brooks hit a RBI single up the middle, Lewis added a RBI single to left field, and Layton Powell drew a walk to load the bases.
That’s when Marble Falls made a pitching change.
By the end of the inning, Burnet scored five runs to take a 6-1 advantage.
The Lady Mustangs responded thanks to sisters Abigail and Jocelyn Suarez. After an out, Abigail hit a double to center field and Jocelyn singled to left field. After the second out, both scored on a catching error that allowed freshman Ady Floyd to reach first.
Then freshman Emma Martin hit a RBI double to centerfield to trim the deficit to 6-4.
”We felt momentum coming through,” Lozoya said. “We didn’t control what we can control.”
Burnet added a run in the fifth inning, five in the sixth inning and three in the seventh inning for the win.
”Our two-out pitching and defense let us down today,” Lozoya said. “As a team, we did a good job of getting into two-out situations. The pitchers did a good job of getting one ball and two strikes, zero balls and two-strike situations. And then we did a very bad job of finishing.”
He noted much of the Lady Dawgs’ runs came after two outs.
”That’ll never win you games at any level,” Lozoya said.
“Not being clutch with two strikes is never going to win you any games. Burnet got it done with their pitching and defense. I’m not taking anything away from Burnet. I’m taking away more of the same things that’s been going on is what we do to ourselves or what we don’t do, OK?”
He pointed to the fact that he made the decision to walk Burnet lead-off batter Journey Denton, a four-year letterman who has a reputation of coming through in key moments for her team, to load the bases with two outs in the sixth inning with Burnet leading 7-5.
Then senior Payten Allen delivered a double to clear the bases en route to Burnet earning another five runs in the sixth inning.
”That was the punch in the gut,” Lozoya said. “That punch finished it off. She did a great job.”
Despite the result, Lozoya was emphatic that his players have what it takes to succeed.
”I’m very proud of them, I like them,” he said. “We got challenged to step up with two outs and play defense. For some reason, it’s not clicking together. We have the pieces.”
Marble Falls welcomes Elgin in nondistrict play Tuesday, March 24, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 7 p.m.
Jennifer Fierro publishes reports about area youth athletic events on her website TexasChalkTalk.com. To send her a note, email [email protected].
