Marble Falls softball knocks it out of the park vs. Vandegrift
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School softball team got its second District 25-4A victory in its home opener March 5, a day after the game was scheduled.
The Lady Mustangs (13-6 overall, 2-0 district) defeated Leander Vandegrift 9-2.
Marble Falls senior catcher Amanda Thomas was a highlight of the night with back-to-back homers. The first came in the bottom of the first inning when the ball cleared the left-field wall about 195 feet away, bringing home three runs. She led off the fourth inning with a solo hit over the center-right field fence from 200 feet away.
Thomas has been spending extra time in batting cages at Scearce Field and at home, she said, with the aim of improving her technique.
“We hit the last two days,” she said. “It helped putting everything together mechanically.”
The senior, who signed to play for the University of Texas-San Antonio, said she wasn’t looking for a home-run pitch; she was just focused on getting a base hit.
Lady Mustangs head coach Chelsey Heller said even as the Lady Mustangs earned a win, coaches saw plenty that players can improve upon.
Top of the list is a return to basics in hitting. Heller said too many of her players were off their hitting forms when they swung. And it wasn’t just one or two players either.
She said that out of the eight Marble Falls hits, the majority came from bunts.
Still, she credited the players for generating offense by outrunning throws to bases, being aggressive in base running and being unafraid to test the defense’s arm strength by looking for opportunities to get extra bases.
“It says a lot that you can manufacture runs,” Heller said. “It speaks for a team that can produce. We don’t have a game (March 7). We have three days of practice. They’ll be nice, hard practices.”
Meanwhile, sophomore pitcher Makenzie Carpenter recorded 13 strikeouts with only one walk in seven innings. Both runs were unearned.
“She did well in the circle,” Heller said.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
TOP PLAYER: Amanda Thomas with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs
ON OFFENSE: RBIs – Emilee Beuershausen 2, Skyler Riley 2
ON DEFENSE: Winning pitcher – Makenzie Carpenter with 6 hits, 1 walk and 13 strikeouts in 7 innings
RECORDS: Marble Falls is 13-6 overall and 2-0 in District 25-4A.
UP NEXT: 7 p.m. March 12, Marble Falls at Cedar Park, 2150 Cypress Creek Road in Cedar Park