Marble Falls baseball loses in extra innings; softball falls 13-6

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School baseball team experienced a brutal 18 hours that included a loss in extra innings to Dripping Springs on April 11 and a lopsided win against Llano on April 12.

The interesting aspect about the 9-0 victory against the Yellow Jackets is that Llano beat Gatesville 12-11 in eight innings.

The Mustangs (9-9-3 overall, 4-6 District 25-4A) weren’t so fortunate, losing to the Tigers 6-5 in 11 innings.

Marble Falls head coach J.T. Blair commended his players for their efforts, given the fact that he didn’t get to bed before 1 a.m. and had to get back to the field at 10 a.m. April 12.

“We have prom tonight and lots of distractions,” he said following the victory. “That’s what Saturday baseball is about is being able to have guys who haven’t played in a while to come up big. That’s what happened today.”

Marble Falls didn’t record an error, making every routine play behind four pitchers: Lane Amidon, Garrett Winslett, Adam Hicks and J.T. Watson. In all, they scattered four hits and gave only one free base.

“That was nice,” Blair said. “Our defense was great. Give our kids some credit. We were all still stinging a little.”

Marble Falls led 5-2 against Dripping Springs going into the seventh inning. After senior shortstop Cullen Vaught caught a line drive for the first out, the Tigers had runners on first and second. But an infield error loaded the bases. Back-to-back hits scored three runs that tied the game.

In the 11th inning, Dripping Springs reached base on a two-out single, then stole second. After a walk, the Tigers hit an RBI single for the win.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs left plenty of runners on base throughout the contest.

“Our Achilles’ heel was not being able to get the big hit,” the coach said. “We all had some good at-bats, we had some bad at-bats.”

In all, Dripping Springs committed eight errors early in the game, while the Mustangs had four toward the end.

Blair said he thought about the four-hour game on the way back from Dripping Springs.

“We had one bad inning,” he said. “We played great for 10 innings. That’s all you can ask your kids to do. We got bunts down, we executed, we scored on sacrifice flyballs. We played really well for 10 innings. We did a good job of staying in that game. We had chances.”

The coach summed up the final week of the regular season, when the Mustangs will travel to face Leander for game one April 15.

“We were going to have to beat Leander twice anyway,” he said. “We know what we have to do. They know what they have to do.

“We’ve played hard in every single game,” he added. “We’ve had good wins and tough losses. It comes down to these last two games.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com

ON OFFENSE: (Against Llano) RBIs – Domenic Patterson 2, Tyler Ryan 2, Zack Atchison 1, Lane Bingham 1, Hunter Dooley 1, Cullen Vaught 1, J.T. Watson 1

ON DEFENSE: (Against Llano) Winning pitcher – Lane Amidon, no runs off 3 hits with 1 hit by a pitch and 2 strikeouts in 3 innings. (Against Dripping Springs) Losing pitcher – Amidon

RECORDS: Marble Falls is 9-9-3 overall and 4-6 in District 25-4A; Dripping Springs is 7-3 in district.

UP NEXT: 7 p.m. April 15, Marble Falls at Leander, 3301 S. Bagdad Road in Leander

DISTRICT 25-4A STANDINGS

Cedar Park 8-2 (def. Vista Ridge 5-1 on April 11)

Dripping Springs 7-3

Vista Ridge 6-4

Leander 5-5

Marble Falls 4-6

Vandegrift 4-8 (def. Rouse 9-8 on April 11)

Rouse 2-8

Vista Ridge softball 13, Marble Falls 6

CEDAR PARK — The Marble Falls High School softball team lost 13-6 to Cedar Park Vista Ridge on April 11 in a District 25-4A game.

The Lady Mustangs (16-11 overall, 5-5 district) have lost five of their past six contests and have two games remaining in the regular season.

Marble Falls scored a run in the top of the first inning, while the Lady Rangers plated three in their half of the inning.

Amanda Thomas hit a solo home run in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and one in the seventh to end the scoring.

Meanwhile, Vista Ridge answered with five runs in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Marble Falls used three pitchers.

The Lady Mustangs will honor seniors before their final regular season home game against Leander Rouse on April 15 at 7 p.m.

ON OFFENSE: (Marble Falls) Home run – Amanda Thomas; RBIs – Thomas 2, Mackenzie Carpenter 1, Tyler Oppenheim 1. (Vista Ridge) Home run – Nicole Ochotnicki; RBIs – Nicole Nickdow 3, Bit Svienty 2, Maddie Collins 2, Jorden Russel 1, Ochotnicki 1, Abbie Coats 1

ON DEFENSE: Winning pitcher – Jorden Russel 3 earned runs off 7 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeous in 7 innings. Losing pitcher – Thomas, 7 earned runs off 8 hits with 3 walks, 2 hit by pitches and 2 strikeouts in 4⅓ innings.

RECORDS: Marble Falls is 16-11 overall and 5-5 in District 25-4A play; Vista Ridge is 6-4.

UP NEXT: 7 p.m. April 15, Marble Falls vs. Leander Rouse at Scearce Softball Field, 2101 Mustang Drive in Marble Falls.

DISTRICT 25-4A SOFTBALL STANDINGS

Leander 9-2 (def. Dripping Springs 5-0 on April 11)

Dripping Springs 8-2

Vista Ridge 6-4

Marble Falls 5-5

Rouse 4-6

Cedar Park 3-8  (def. Vandegrift 2-1 on April 11)

Vandegrift 1-9