Lady Mustangs still putting softball elements together
COLLEGE STATION — Playing in challenging tournaments has benefits Marble Falls High School softball head coach David Orsag believes will help his Lady Mustangs for the season.
And though his team finished 0-5 at the A&M Consolidated Tournament, the Lady Mustangs (3-15) still can take a lot of comfort, he said.
PHOTO 1: Alicia Macias. Courtesy photo
PHOTO 2: Hailey Wooten. Courtesy photo
PHOTO 3: Marble Falls junior powerhitter Mackinzee Mayfield was one of the high points during the A&M Consolidated Tournament, according to head coach David Orsag. Mayfield had several hits for her squad, he said. Courtesy photo”We played good folks and were in every game,” Orsag said.
Marble Falls lost to Dripping Springs, 8-5.
But the Lady Mustangs had a chance. A base-running mistake and not getting a hit at the right time allowed the Lady Tigers to hold on for the victory, Orsag said.
“We had a chance at the end,” he said.
Marble Falls followed that with a 5-1 setback to Henderson.
The game was tied, 1-1, going into the sixth inning.
“All the sudden, we couldn’t field the ball,” the coach said. “We gave up four unearned runs.”
Lufkin Henderson earned a 4-1 victory against Marble Falls.
Because junior Payton Peril had already pitched three games, Orsag asked sophomore Taylor Koska to pitch in the loss to Austin Westlake, 5-1.
“Koska did a good job,” the coach said, noting this marked only the second time she pitched in a varsity contest.
Marble Falls played its best game against Aledo in an 8-5 loss.
The teams each scored five runs in the first inning.
The Lady Mustangs recorded six hits in a row.
“Boom, boom, boom,” Orsag said.
But three unearned runs allowed Aledo, which played in the Class 4A state championship two years ago, to nab the victory.
The coach continued to move people to different spots and gave four players who had not played on the varsity level a few innings.
“They only had JV experience,” he said.
The biggest challenge is getting the Lady Mustangs through a hitting slump, Orsag said.
“We hit in spurts,” he said. “We never got them going at the right time. Our good ones aren’t coming through right now. We’re just not.”
Defensively, Orsag knew his pitchers were going to be asked to manage the game, meaning he wants them to force batters to hit into routine plays for outs such as popups, groundouts and flyballs.
But that means the defense has to be eager to make a play.
“We’re looking not to make an error instead of making the out,” the coach said. “Our pitchers are (forcing routine plays). They’re giving us a chance. We have too many times we don’t make the routine plays. That’s what’s killing us. We have to quit giving them five or six outs an inning.”
But despite the record, Orsag remains encouraged.
“I still think we’re playing better teams than we’ll see in district except for Lampasas and Pflugerville Hendrickson,” he said. “We have two more games to fix it.”
District 25-4A play begins March 19 at Lake Travis.