Marble Falls baseball overpowers LBJ in Game 1 of bi-district series
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — It’s hard to disagree with Marble Falls High School senior pitcher Cole Ridgely.
After the Mustangs crushed Austin LBJ by a score of 9-1 on May 3 in the first game of a Class 4A best-of-three bi-district series, Ridgely said only one other contest this season could compare to this win: The 9-0 victory against Dripping Springs on April 9.
Just like in that contest, the Mustangs’ most recent victory, a home game at Scearce Field, was won with a dominating defense and good base running.
“It all worked together,” said Ridgely, who struck out 15 of the 26 batters he faced May 3. “That’s probably my best game I’ve ever thrown. I just felt like everything was working together. I didn’t throw that many balls, and I was around the strike zone the whole time.”
And how important were the Mustangs’ runs?
“It’s big,” he said. “You don’t feel as much pressure on you.”
Marble Falls head coach J.T. Blair thought his club played very well, noting it had been two weeks since their last contest.
“We looked a little rusty at times, but we still had good at-bats,” he said. “Up and down and through the lineup, we had some good at-bats. We kept at it.”
Marble Falls recorded six hits and drew five walks. But one of the keys to winning the game was LBJ’s pass balls and errors. The Mustangs took extra bases off the LBJ defense and plated two runs off pass balls.
“We had some guys who had some good games offensively,” the coach said.
As for Ridgely’s performance, Blair used the same word: dominating.
“He’s capable of taking a game over,” he said. “Game 1 on our home field, we were going to put all our eggs in one basket. To go get Game 1, we were going after it. It’s good to get Game 1 out of the way.”
The teams play Game 2 of the series noon May 4 at the Toney Burger Center, 3200 Jones Road in Austin. Game 3, if necessary, will follow.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
ON OFFENSE: Marble Falls – RBIs: Cole Ridgely 2, Domenic Patterson 2, Jay Watson 2, Mike Richardson 1; hits: Patterson 2-3; runs scored: Heinatz 2, Patterson 1, Ricahrdson 1, Ridgely 1, Carson Bowen 1, Jimmy Damico 1, J.T. Watson 1. LBJ – RBIs: Zach Johnson 1; hits: Johnson 2-3.
ON DEFENSE: Winning pitcher (Marble Falls) Cole Ridgely (12-2) – 1 earned run off 4 hits with 1 walk and 15 strikeouts. Losing pitcher (LBJ) Tristan Burt (3-3) – 5 earned runs off 3 hits with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts.
RECORDS: Marble Falls is 22-7; LBJ is 14-12-2.