Marble Falls softball loses to Lampasas
CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore pitcher Brooklynn Damico pitched well in the loss to Lampasas. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School softball team lost to Lampasas 7-5 March 10 in District 24-4A play.
The Lady Badgers got on the board first by plating two unearned runs in the first inning after two outs.
The Lady Mustangs scored a run thanks to a RBI by senior third baseman Cheyenne Thompson after sophomore catcher Callie Phillips led off with a single and stole second and freshman shortstop Abigail Suarez hit a single between the shortstop and third base to trim the deficit 2-1.
In the bottom of the second inning, freshman right fielder Emma Martin reached first when the throw pulled the baseman off the bag. Left fielder Rylee Frisch followed with a sacrifice bunt then freshman Addie Martin reached on an error.
Matti King hit a bunt that was thrown to third base but the ball was dropped, allowing Martin and King to be safe.
So with bases loaded, Phillips hit a 3 RBI triple to center-right field and dived head first into third base to give the Lady Mustangs a 4-2 lead. Suarez then hit what looked like a bunt and Phillips dared the infielder to throw her out at third. When the ball was thrown to third, Phillips ran home, dived and scored, allowing Suarez to get to first base.
Suarez was out when the batted ball hit her as she was running from first to second. The inning ended on a strikeout.
Lampasas went three up, three down in the third inning thanks to a strikeout by sophomore pitcher Brooklynn Damico, a popup caught by Phillips and a catch by Frisch.
Lampasas plated two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth, most of which were unearned.
Thompson began the seventh inning with a single to left field, freshman first baseman Ady Floyd hit a ball that struck the leg of Lampasas senior pitcher, and freshman Hannah Graham followed with an infield single to load the bases. The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice, another popped up to the catcher, and the final batter struck out looking to strand three Lady Mustangs.
Farmer got the win thanks to allowing one earned run off eight hits and a walk while striking out 11 in seven innings. Lampasas had three errors.
Phillips led the Lady Mustangs with 3 RBI thanks to 2 singles and a triple and 2 runs scored. Suarez and Thompson each had a RBI.
Damico was credited with the loss. She allowed three earned runs off 11 hits with one strikeout and no walks. In all Marble Falls had 10 errors.
Lozoya went back to his previous comments about his players “creating their own breaks and taking advantage of them” when given the opportunities.
“We showed glimpses of it,” he said. “We have to find consistency on the side that favors us to get off the field, especially when Brooklynn is working as hard as she is. Brooklynn played well. They had three earned runs and even then, they really had to work hard for them. I think the potential for my team is there. I think the ability for them to be different is there. They are in position to make plays, and we just are not finishing.”
He pointed back to the middle of the game where Lampasas took the lead off poorly thrown balls to infielders, drops by basemen and an overthrow to home plate that allowed the Lady Badger to score from third and another to take another base.
Those plays contributed to the score.
“We have to find a way to wrap it up,” the coach said. “It is frustrating in the moment to see the potential that is there defensively and we can’t stay consistent with it for 21 outs.”
That potential was apparent when Lampasas stranded runners thanks to Phillips and Floyd catching pop-ups and Frisch and Emma Martin catching flyballs. Lozoya has called those the “cheap outs”– balls that are hit toward defenders where they aren’t chasing them in the gaps.
“That’s great,” Lozoya said. “And we have to find ways for routine plays to stay routine. We just have to find a way to wrap it up. We have to find ways to make sure that we are stepping up for each other. We have to start stepping up for each other.”
Marble Falls travels to play Salado Friday, March 13, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 7 p.m.
The program also announced game time changes to the spring break schedule. Burnet is still visiting Marble Falls on its Scearce Softball Field Tuesday, March 17, and the Lady Mustangs will travel to Jarrell Wednesday, March 18. But the junior varsities will play at 1 p.m. and the varsities at 3 p.m.
CAPTION: Rylee Frisch surprises Lampasas with a bunt that was so perfect the Lady Badgers had no choice but to throw to first base for the out. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
