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Marble Falls junior Camille Catalfamo pitched well during the loss to Georgetown Gateway, according to her coach. Photos by Jennifer Fierro/TexasChalkTalk.com -
Making routine outs, such as catching pop-ups like the one caught by junior first baseman Sophia Biagini with junior second baseman Kylie Roberts giving her space, gives pitchers more confidence, according to head coach Alex Lozoya.
The Marble Falls High School softball team lost to Georgetown Gateway 5-0 April 9 in a game that ended after six innings because of inclement weather.
Head coach Alex Lozoya said he met with Gateway officials, who noted that the University Interscholastic League recognizes a game is played in its completion after six innings. That and player safety were reasons why the game has concluded and counts toward the District 24-4A standings.
Junior pitcher Camille Catalfamo pitched all the innings for the Lady Mustangs.
“I thought Camille threw one of the better games she’s thrown all year,” Lozoya said. “Camille had a good warm-up and looked good. I told her, ‘I need you to relax and feel good and trust the team behind you. I need you to do what you do and make balls hit our gloves.’ Camille has made strides from last year to this year. She has made strides.”
He noted she forced batters who were ahead of her in the count to chase pitches.
“There were also some Gateway hitters who swung on 3-0 counts who gave us outs,” the coach said.
Lozoya pointed out that on at least two runs, the Lady Mustangs’ momentum forced them to throw to a bag instead of home plate for the out. And Gateway runners read the play correctly and waited long enough to see the Lady Mustangs commit to that throw before going home.
One play was made from freshman shortstop Jocelyn Suarez to junior second baseman Kylie Roberts, while another came on “a high chopper” to sophomore third baseman Cheyenne Thompson.
“Cheyenne made it look easy,” the coach said.
"But she had to go to first base. Jocelyn ... had to go to second.”
And while coaches could see positives, Lozoya said they also saw areas where Marble Falls can be better. Case in point was a flyball hit between two outfielders.
“They were both overly aggressive to get to it,” the coach said. “Then it fell between them for a double.”
On another play, a Lady Mustang got to a pop-up in foul territory that hit her. But the umpire ruled that she was in fair territory when the ball touched her and awarded a base hit to Gateway.
Gateway scored runs on two-out hits and pass balls.
“In the fourth inning, the walks started to creep in,” Lozoya said.
And instead of making a change in the circle, he decided it was more important for the Lady Mustangs to keep playing where they were.
"We got to find a way to fight through this one," he said. “We have nothing to lose. Work your way out of your own mess. We’re not a team that can trade runs for outs. If we can pound the strike zone consistently, we have a shot. The kids came out and competed well. You start to see them having fun playing defense.”
Meanwhile, Gateway junior pitcher Chloe Ellis, who was intentionally walked during her at-bats, had about 10 strikeouts during the contest.
“Chloe threw hard and threw harder,” Lozoya said. “We got a lot of swings and misses.”
When the team bus arrived back at campus, players and coaches saw hail damage to vehicles and Lozoya was addressing Scearce Field and other parts of the facility.
“Thankfully all the results from the storm were minor inconveniences,” he said. “Nobody was hurt. We got to see a little bit of Mother Nature.”
Marble Falls travels to Lago Vista for a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday, April 12.
Jennifer Fierro publishes reports about area youth athletic events on her website TexasChalkTalk.com. To send her a note, email fierrojennifer@yahoo. com.