Marble Falls softball beats Chaparral
CAPTION: Sophomore pitcher Brooklynn Damico led the defensive effort in helping the Lady Mustangs earn their first tournament win at their Hill Country Takeover. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School softball team defeated Killeen Chaparral 11-4 Feb. 20 in the nightcap of its Hill Country Takeover tournament.
“They found a way to be clutch and get it done when it mattered,” head coach Alex Lozoya said. “The kids are playing well enough to get a chance at a win. I told the kids I’m proud of them. We got more out of the last two days than we did out of the performance (Feb. 17 in a 17-1 win against Fischer Canyon Lake).”
The Lady Mustangs (5-6) led 9-4 going into the last inning and scrapped out two runs in the top of the inning thanks to a RBI double by junior Jocelyn Suarez and a RBI double by freshman Emma Martin.
This game, however, had a couple of unusual elements.
The first was a collision near home plate when senior Cheyenne Thompson was on her way home. Just as the catcher caught the ball, the two collided. The ball came out of the catcher’s glove and Thompson crawled to home plate to touch it. But officials ruled her out and didn’t allow the run to count.
Later in the game, a similar scenario played out. But this time officials said the Lady Mustang used malicious contact — an act that involves excessive force with an opponent — resulting in immediate ejection.
Still, the Lady Mustangs had a lead and kept it thanks to sophomore pitcher Brooklynn Damico, catcher Suarez and a Marble Falls defense that didn’t allow the Lady Bobcats to plate many more runs after the umpire’s ruling.
So in the bottom of the final inning, Chaparral still had three outs left.
Damico went to the circle and faced four batters with one reaching base and two others resulting in outs.
A batter hit the ball right back to the pitcher, which hit her in the shoulder and resulted in Damico exiting the game.
That’s when Martin entered the circle and her teammates were there to welcome her.
“We could get the last out if we all stayed calm and just helped Emma out with the energy and the positivity we had,” Suarez said. “In the huddle we talked about how we all got this. Relax, just do our jobs. It was just high-fiving each other and saying we got this.”
The batter got two strikes pretty quick and then struck out to end the game.
After talking to the team, Lozoya praised Damico for her performance, especially after the Lady Bobcats were starting to get into an offensive groove earlier in the game.
“Brooklynn made her pitches even when she was struggling for a bit, couldn’t find the spot, was too high or too low missing,” he said. “I was like ‘you’re it right now. I need you to be the horse and finish, I need you to be the leader that I know you can be. I’m gonna take a deep breath, I’m gonna wait till the umpire comes to get me because I’m gonna maximize this timeout. Feel the momentum and then when you’re ready to come in, get to working.’ And then she did that. I think she did a good job.”
Marble Falls was the visiting team and put up three runs in the first inning only to see Chaparral answer with two.
But as the game played out, Suarez continued her hot hitting. In addition to scoring runs, she also hit a three-run homer that sent the crowd into a frenzy and was so loud fans watching the Marble Falls boys soccer team defeat Wimberley 1-0 at Mustang Stadium could hear.
“I think it was a fastball out and as I saw it, I knew it was out,” she said. “So I felt pretty good finally getting it over after the last game. My role is to try to do my job, to let the others see what they need to do next. And just start the game going, have the energy up.”
Coaches moved players to different defensive positions, including Thompson who went from third base to first base. She made a series of great plays including an over-the-shoulder catch for an out.
“I thought Cheyenne did a great job at first base,” Lozoya said. “I think her athleticism and range she shows at third base, she can see that at first. And not just on receiving but making plays and covering ground. And more importantly, she understands that she’s on the right side of the defense with a freshman second baseman and she was out there with the freshman right fielder that ended up coming to third. But she is taking a leadership role and talking to them versus having to communicate across the field. So she did a great job with that as well.”
As for the malicious contact call, Lozoya said, “There was nothing malicious about that. He felt it was bad enough that he needed to eject her. Same thing for earlier – the bang, bang play at home plate. I don’t think there’s anything malicious about Cheyenne attempting to score.”
Suarez noted that though the Lady Mustangs had lost three straight before facing Chaparral, they have what it takes to focus on the next task.
“Even after a bad game, we just reset,” Suarez said. “Don’t even think about it. And just keep each other up, encourage each other. You can just move on.”
