Burnet softball beats Marble Falls
CAPTION: Burnet senior pitcher Carlee Williams scores the Lady Dawgs’ first run to tie the game at 1-1 in the second inning. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School softball team defeated Marble Falls 15-5 March 17 in District 24-4A play.
The Lady Dawgs earned their first district win of the season.
“We showed up and we competed,” Burnet head coach Jayci Craig said. “We knew what we had to do. We were 0-3 in district. We knew that we had to get this one to go and compete for a playoff position.”
On the first pitch to Lady Mustangs lead-off batter Callie Phillips, the sophomore hit a solo home run over the left field wall for their only lead at 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
“She got a good stroke of it and it hung a little bit,” Marble Falls head coach Alex Lozoya said. “I was worried that it wouldn’t go out. There was big momentum going forward. And I don’t think we capitalized on it further down the lineup.”
As the Lady Mustangs were celebrating with Phillips at home plate, Burnet senior shortstop Journey Denton was in the circle talking to senior pitcher Carlee Williams. Craig didn’t interrupt.
“I think if I’m going out there every single time something goes wrong, I’m not allowing them to set the example for what the program should look like,” the coach said. “We have some younger girls on our team, and I want them to see first-hand what that looks like without me having to step in and talk to them.”
Marble Falls stranded one runner and Craig huddled with her players before the second inning began.
“I told them, ‘This is your decision on how you want this to go – let this affect us negatively and continue it out through the game, or we can go and compete,'” she recalled saying. “My team decided to show up and compete, which was great and exactly what I expected them to do.”
Williams hit a two-out single then scored on a RBI double by Lacie Lewis to tie the game at 1-1.
Burnet took the lead for good in the third inning. Denton hit a double to center field and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior left fielder Payten Allen. Kendall Winkley hit a RBI double to left field and Abby Bennight beat a throw to first base for an infield single.
After another out, Hannah Brooks hit a RBI single up the middle, Lewis added a RBI single to left field, and Layton Powell drew a walk to load the bases.
That’s when Marble Falls made a pitching change.
By the end of the inning, Burnet scored five runs to take a 6-1 advantage.
The Lady Mustangs responded thanks to sisters Abigail and Jocelyn Suarez. After an out, Abigail hit a double to center field and Jocelyn singled to left field. After the second out, both scored on a catching error that allowed freshman Ady Floyd to reach first. Then freshman Emma Martin hit a RBI double to centerfield to trim the deficit to 6-4.
“We felt momentum coming through,” Lozoya said. “We didn’t control what we can control.”
Burnet added a run in the fifth inning, five in the sixth inning and three in the seventh inning for the win.
“Our two-out pitching and defense let us down today,” Lozoya said. “As a team, we did a good job of getting into two-out situations. The pitchers did a good job of getting one ball and two strikes, zero balls and two-strike situations. And then we did a very bad job of finishing.”
He noted much of the Lady Dawgs’ runs came after two outs.
“That’ll never win you games at any level,” Lozoya said. “Not being clutch with two strikes is never going to win you any games. Burnet got it done with their pitching and defense. I’m not taking anything away from Burnet. I’m taking away more of the same things that’s been going on is what we do to ourselves or what we don’t do, OK?”
He pointed to the fact that he made the decision to walk lead-off batter Denton, a four-year letterman who has a reputation of coming through in key moments for her team, to load the bases with two outs in the sixth inning with Burnet leading 7-5.
Then Allen delivered a double to clear the bases en route to Burnet earning another five runs in the sixth inning.
“That was the punch in the gut,” Lozoya said. “That punch finished it off. She did a great job.”
In the last few games, Craig had emphasized consistency throughout the batting order and commended the Lady Dawgs for showing that against their county rivals.
“Today, they definitely showed up,” she said. “And they all hit and they hit well. I had some girls in different spots than normal, and it looked great. I’m very, very proud of them and happy with the way it turned out offensively today.”
Lozoya was equally emphatic about his players, too.
“I’m very proud of them, I like them,” he said. “We got challenged to step up with two outs and play defense. For some reason, it’s not clicking together. We have the pieces.”
Burnet welcomes Taylor in a varsity-only contest at noon Thursday, March 19.
Both teams are back in action Tuesday, March 24. Burnet travels to Lampasas in district play, while Marble Falls welcomes Elgin in non-district play.
At both locations, the junior varsities play at 5 p.m. and the varsities at 7 p.m.
“I think that we can go and compete with any team in our district,” Craig said. “And it just depends how we show up and play, and I think the girls know that, too. We talk a lot about having confidence in ourselves and not letting previous games dictate how we’re going to play the next time, and so I think our district is going to be really surprised in the second round of district.”
CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Abigail Suarez reaches third base and is 60 feet from scoring. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
