BASEBALL: Several factors crucial for Mustangs against Killeen
MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School baseball team is looking to end a two-game losing skid, when the Mustangs welcome Killeen High Friday.
First pitch is at 7 p.m. at Scearce Baseball Field, 2101 Mustang Drive.
Both teams are coming off losses.
Killeen lost to Lake Travis, 12-2, Tuesday, while the Mustangs suffered a 9-7 setback to Hutto.
Though Marble Falls easily beat the Kangaroos, 30-2 and 14-6, in 2009, head coach David Norwood does not want his players to fall into the trap that it will be that easy this time.
“(The Kangaroos) seem to be very much improved,” Norwood said. “Last year is last year. The only thing we have to worry about is playing our kind of baseball. Right now, our big concern is ourselves.”
That means addressing a number of obstacles.
The first the Mustangs must have a good start in all phases of the contest, something they struggled with in the loss to Hutto.
Pitchers had control issues, batters found it difficult to record hits, and fielders had mistakes the Hippos could capitalize on.
The Hippos recorded back-to-back doubles to kick-start their offense and took a 9-0 lead before the Mustangs began a comeback.
They scored seven runs in the fifth. Hutto changed pitchers, and Marble Falls was unable to tie it in the last two innings.
To help with the mound, junior Brian Hicks (2-2) will start against the Kangaroos (5-10).
Hicks has not thrown since he was pulled after 1 1/3 innings in the 10-0 loss to Burnet, where he gave up two home runs in back-to-back innings.
His ERA is at 4.47, with 10 earned runs on 13 hits. Of the batters he has faced, he has struck out 25 and walked 14.
The final obstacle is the Mustangs have to limit a bad play or bad pitch. Against Hutto, one negative turned into several. Norwood noticed his players began to hang their heads.
It wasn’t until he challenged their character before the start of the fifth inning did they begin to perform the way they could, he said.
The Mustangs spent Wednesday afternoon in an intersquad scrimmage.
“We limit the number of pitches,” Norwood said. “We chart performance and effort. The pitchers got to throw live. It was a good, high-intense practice.”
He said the game against Killeen is not a must-win contest, but it comes close.
“We need to be 1-1 in district instead of being 0-2,” he said. “It’s surely a step on the right direction.”