Jackets, Billies ready for bi-district series

LLANO — After clinching the final playoff spot in District 25-3A, the Llano High School baseball team can completely focus on its bi-district opponent, Fredericksburg, which finished second out in District 26-4A.

The best-of-three series begins 7 p.m. May 5 at Scearce Baseball Field on the Marble Falls High School campus, 2101 Mustang Drive in Marble Falls.

The Yellowjackets (20-10, 5-5) beat the Billies (16-10, 7-3) 19-1 in the pre-district season. But head coach Brad Harman said fans shouldn’t be fooled. He believes this series will be very competitive. “We haven’t seen them since their tournament, the very first tournament of the year,” he said. “But I know that ball club they’ve got is scrappy. They’re going to be ready to play.”

His counterpart is familiar to fans. Todd Doucet guided the Billies to the playoffs in his first season as head coach. Last season, he guided the Burnet High School baseball team to the Class 3A Region I finals, one series away from the state tournament.

“Coach Doucet is a tremendous coach, tremendous person,” the Llano skipper said. “You can bet they’re going to put the ball in play, they’re going to do the little things, they’re going to lay down a bunt, they’re going to run the bases right. That district they’re in down there is not an easy district to get second place. A week ago, they were playing Boerne for the first-place spot. None of them is going to be easy from here on out.”

Doucet joked he “did a bunch of coaching” in the 19-1 loss.

“They wore us out,” he said. “It’s going to give our kids some motivation. Our kids have talked about it the whole season. The last time we played them, we took it in the chin.”