Mistakes haunt Mustangs in loss to Lake Travis
LAKE TRAVIS — For four innings March 27, the Marble Falls High School baseball team did everything right against Lake Travis.
But two mistakes on the field and a misjudgment on a pitching change allowed the Cavaliers to claim a 4-3 victory. “Baseball is a cruel sport,” head coach David Norwood said. “We have to find a way to make better decisions.”
The Mustangs (4-14, 1-4) scored a run in the third thanks to an RBI single by Stacy Heinatz and senior Clynt Powell added another run when he scored on a pass ball in the fifth for a 2-0 lead. Runners reached thanks to fielding errors.
Sophomore Carson Bowen made things very interesting in the seventh thanks to a solo home run that went 365 feet over the left wall. It could have been a two-run homer had the baserunner not wandered too far off first base on an infield popup that started a double play.
In the fifth inning Marble Falls junior pitcher Cody Goodman faced six batters and gave up two earned runs off three hits, including an infield single on a bunt that loaded the bases.
Though Heinatz recorded an unassisted double play when he caught a popup and tagged the runner before he could get back to second, the damage was done when senior Grant Akroyd hit a two RBI double.
Goodman took to the mound in the sixth but gave up an RBI triple to senior Konnor Frazier. That’s when Norwood, who took blame for not making a change earlier, put Heinatz on the mound.
“Cody saw one more batter than he should have,” the coach said. “Stacy is our closer. Stacy is a three-out pitcher. Baseball is a game of percentages. We decided to get the other out with Cody. It didn’t pan out.”
Ryan Lee had the other RBI in the sixth.
This loss was the latest at the Cavaliers field where the game was decided by the smallest of margins. In 2006, Lake Travis came back to win in the seventh thanks to a taking advantage of errors. Last year, the Cavaliers won in extra innings.
Marble Falls will welcome Leander Vandegrift 7 p.m. March 30 to Scearce Field, 2101 Mustang Drive in Marble Falls.
“The teams were chasing for the playoffs are Vandegrift, (Leander Rouse) and Dripping Springs,” Norwood said. “We have to take care of business Friday.”