SOFTBALL: Lady Stangs hope to rewrite recent history
MARBLE FALLS — Recent past history reveals that the Marble Falls High School softball team has not beaten Dripping Springs.
Not in 2006, 2007 or 2008, when the teams played in the same District 25-4A.
Not in 2009 or 2010, when the squads met in non-district contests.
But in fairness to head coach David Orsag, the losses haven’t been by a heavy amount.
“A bunch of one runs,” he said. “I lost to them in eight innings two years ago.”
Orsag had the luxury of two pitchers then, former standouts Chelsea Hubbard and Taylor Hoffmans.
Every nine batters, the coach changed pitchers, never allowing the Lady Tigers to get used to the same hurler.
But what cost Marble Falls that game was two timely hits that drove in the winning run.
Fans can also point to the 2006 loss in much the same way.
The Lady Mustangs hosted Dripping Springs, ranked in the top five in the state at the time, and took a 2-1 lead headed into the top of the seventh inning.
But the Lady Tigers came back and won, 3-2.
“We got close to beating them three or four times,” Orsag said.
Those close losses have given the Lady Mustangs confidence going into Friday’s bi-district series.
Game 1 will be played 7:30 at Dripping Springs, while game 2 will be at Scearce Softball Field 4 p.m. Saturday.
Game 3, if necessary, will begin 30 minutes after the second game ends.
The Lady Mustangs (4-6 in District 25-4A) have not won a game since the 2-1 loss to Pflugerville Hendrickson April 20.
They are currently riding a two-game losing skid, after dropping an 8-2 match to Lampasas April 23.
Since the junior varsity season is over, the players can have more efficient and quicker practices, Orsag said.
“Practices are short and sweet,” he said. “We have to have them shorter because of (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test).”
The coach said a different part of the sport has been emphasized in each practice.
The Lady Mustangs worked on bunt coverage Tuesday and on Wednesday focused on footwork and work at first and third bases.
The challenge was finding the balance between having a productive practice that keeps players sharp versus making them so tired it’s hard for them to recover, Orsag said.
“We haven’t practiced like that in a long time,” he said. “You have to change it up sometimes.”
He hopes home-field advantage pays off, but the most important aspect is not making errors and recording routine outs.
“We have a chance,” the coach said.