Marble Falls baseball wins series against Cedar Park
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
CEDAR PARK — The Marble Falls High School baseball team’s 3-2 win against Cedar Park on March 14 did so much for the Mustangs’ confidence, head coach J.T. Blair said.
“I kind of felt like we were under the radar a little bit,” he said. “I think we’re on the radar now.”
Indeed. The Timberwolves had runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh with only one out after trimming a 3-1 deficit to a single run.
Marble Falls senior pitcher Cole Ridgely, who threw 74 pitches in seven innings in the Mustangs’ Game 2 victory March 13, struck out the last two batters.
“You could have heard a pin drop in that place,” Blair said. “I kind of felt all along that we could compete with these kids, but I needed for my kids to believe we could compete with them. Last night’s win was a game that shows our kids we can compete in this district with those teams.”
Cedar Park took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on an unearned run. A Timberwolves player never stopped running from second because Mustang players couldn’t find the ball near the plate. Still, once Marble Falls found the ball, the Mustangs had a play at the plate but dropped the ball.
The Mustangs responded in the sixth, scoring all three of their runs.
Senior Mike Richardson was hit by a pitch and stole second. Jimmy Damico hit into the right-field gap for the RBI. Junior pinch runner J.T. Watson scored from second base when the ball kicked off the first baseman’s glove on a hit by senior Joey Blackledge. Senior Stacy Heinatz hit a ball to right field that was dropped, allowing junior Carson Bowen to score.
Blair said winning 4-1 in Game 2 on March 13 was a confidence booster for the Mustangs, and winning the series March 14 demonstrates what he has been saying: Marble Falls is capable of being as successful as the players want to be. The Mustangs lost 4-1 in Game 1 of the series March 12.
“(Games 2 and 3) are two big wins,” he said. “(Cedar Park) is a marquee team in this district. To take two out of three from them is big for our program.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com
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ON OFFENSE: Marble Falls – RBI: Jimmy Damico 1, Stacy Heinatz 1; Cedar Park – RBI: Tanner Dickerson 1
ON DEFENSE: Winning pitcher – Garrett Winslett (3-0) 1 unearned run in 2 hits and 1 walk in 4⅔ innings; save – Cole Ridgely (2-1-1) 2 hits, 1 walk 4 strikeouts in 2 innings. Losing pitcher – Tanner Dickerson (0-4) 2 earned runs off 4 hits, 1 walk and 10 strikeouts in 7 innings
RECORDS: Marble Falls is 10-3 overall and 2-1 in District 25-4A; Cedar Park is 2-4 in district.
UP NEXT: Marble Falls vs. Leander Rouse, 7 p.m. March 19 at Scearce Field, 2101 Mustang Drive in Marble Falls
[/tab] [tab title=”DISTRICT STANDINGS”]
Dripping Springs, 6-0
Leander, 4-2
Marble Falls, 2-1
Cedar Park Vista Ridge, 2-1
Cedar Park, 2-4
Leander Vandegrift, 1-5
Leander Rouse, 1-5
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