Llano baseball beats Burnet in second-place battle; Lady Dawgs win 7-1
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
LLANO — As it should be, the contest between the Burnet and Llano baseball teams April 15 came down to the seventh inning in a battle for second place in District 8-3A.
In the end, the Yellow Jackets (6-2 district) took advantage of two free bases to come back for a 4-3 victory.
“In close games, you can’t give away free bases,” Bulldogs head coach Steven Shipley said. “It came down to the little things. It’s a tough way to lose a game.”
Llano’s Tommy Yelvington was hit by a pitch, which brought in the tying run, while Taylor Sorenson crossed the plate on a walk.
The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the third inning only to have the Bulldogs (12-10-3 overall, 5-3 district) score two in the fourth. The Yellow Jackets tied the contest 2-2 in their half of the fourth inning.
Burnet regained the lead, 3-2, when the runner went home on a balk by pitcher Issac Hutto in the seventh inning.
That might have been the only misstep for Hutto.
“Llano’s pitcher was that good,” Shipley said.
Two games remain in the regular season. Burnet has to win both and Llano has to lose one for the two to finish as the district runners-up. If Burnet wins both and Llano loses both, the Bulldogs are in second place by themselves.
Though the game didn’t go the Bulldogs’ way, Shipley said fans were treated to a gem, noting neither team yielded.
“It was a great game,” he said. “As long as we can get past the loss and learn from our mistakes, it will make us better down the road.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com
ON DEFENSE: (Llano) winning pitcher – Issac Hutto, 10 strikeouts in 7 innings; (Burnet) losing pitcher — Taylor Barksdale
RECORDS: Burnet is 12-10-3 overall and 5-3 in District 8-3A; Llano is 6-2 in district.
UP NEXT: 7 p.m. April 18, Burnet vs. Lampasas, 1000 The Green Mile in Burnet
DISTRICT 8-3A BASEBALL STANDINGS
Liberty Hill 7-1 (def. Lampasas 5-1)
Llano 6-2
Burnet 5-3
Gatesville 2-6
Lampasas 2-6
Brownwood 2-6 (def. Gatesville 11-1)
Burnet softball 7, Llano 1
LLANO — The Burnet High School softball team completed a District 8-3A sweep of Llano by winning 7-1 on April 15.
“Great win,” Lady Dawgs head coach Corey Bledsoe said. “We played the game the correct way. We executed all parts of the game: pitching, defense, hitting, base running.”
With the victory, Burnet (15-10 overall, 3-6 district) remains in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Burnet scored two runs in the first inning. Llano (2-7 district) scored its only run in the second.
Then, the Lady Dawgs plated a run in the third, fourth and fifth innings and added two more in the sixth. In all, Burnet had 13 hits and no errors.
By contrast, the Lady Jackets had two hits and committed four errors.
“We came together and played together as a team,” Bledsoe said. “All the hard work and sacrifice showed in the end result.”
The regular season ends April 18, and there’s a chance for a three-way tie for fourth place, which is the final playoff spot.
Burnet needs to beat Lampasas and for Liberty Hill to defeat Gatesville to force a play-in game. But if Llano beats Brownwood, then the Lady Dawgs, Lady Jackets and Gatesville could have the same 3-7 records. Burnet has the first tiebreaker over Llano. Llano and Gatesville split the regular series.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
ON OFFENSE: (Burnet) RBIs – Ashley Hallmark 2, Vanessa Escamilla 1; (Llano) RBIs – Angela Jackson
ON DEFENSE: (Burnet) winning pitcher – Landree Thompson, 2 hits and 4 strikeouts in 7 innings; (Llano) losing pitcher – Angela Jackson, 1 strikeout in 7 innings
RECORDS: Burnet is 15-11 overall and 3-6 in District 8-3; Llano is 2-7 in district.
UP NEXT: 7 p.m. April 18, Burnet vs. Lampasas, 1000 The Green Mile in Burnet
DISTRICT 8-3A STANDINGS
Liberty Hill 9-0 (def. Lampasas 11-6)
Brownwood 5-4
Lampasas 4-5
Gatesville 4-5 (def. Brownwood 11-0)
Burnet 3-6
Llano 2-7