Burnet baseball beats Taylor
CAPTION: Burnet senior pitcher Cohen Jorpeland and the defense did their parts to ensure a Taylor sweep. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Burnet High School baseball team swept Taylor 11-4 April 2 and 16-5 March 31 in District 24-4A.
That means the Bulldogs (8-147-1, 3-5) earned their first district sweep of the season.
Needing a win in Burnet April 2, the Ducks (3-15, 1-5) walked onto the artificial turf at Bulldog Diamonds determined to do just that. They scored a run thanks to drawing three walks in the first inning.
But Burnet responded on a RBI double by pitcher Cohen Jorpeland, who brought home shortstop Hudson Crawford after he drew a lead-off walk to tie the game at 1-1.
Taylor scored three runs in the second inning highlighted by an RBI single and an error. After that, the Bulldogs stiffened led by Jorpeland, who allowed two earned runs and about six strikeouts in six innings. Crawford took over in the seventh to close it out.
“(Jorpeland) didn’t start off great, he just wasn’t locked in early,” head coach Russell Houston said. “But then he got locked in. It’s always easier to pitch when you score runs behind him. We put a lot of traffic on early and just weren’t able to score runs. And then just kind of got hot.”
The Bulldogs scored two runs in the third inning thanks to a 2 RBI double by Tate Lambright and seized control of the contest in the fourth inning.
Crawford drew another walk then Mason Watson stepped to the plate and connected on a hit to left field. And though Houston held him up at second, the Bulldog decided to stretch it to a triple. As he rounded the base, the coach swung his arms in a downward motion to tell Watson to slide, which he did and was called safe. Crawford had already gone home on the hit.
“That was a big two-out hit,” the coach said. “We hadn’t had those earlier in the ballgame, so that was a big two-out hit that allowed us to tie the ballgame.”
As he rose to his feet, Watson looked at teammates and roared.
“He’s a dog,” Houston said. “He plays really well. That’s just the ability of him just to not crack under pressure and just rise to the occasion and do his job. That’s the one that broke everything open. He’s a competitive young man that just is willing to go do whatever we ask him to do and all these kids are. All these kids compete, and that’s all I can ask.”
Watson went home on an error thanks to Charles Edwards, who advanced to third after reaching on a double. Edwards scored on a pass ball for a 6-4 lead.
In the fifth, Watson hit a RBI single to center field to bring Crawford home after the freshman doubled then went to third on a pass ball. The run was especially devastating since it came after two outs.
Jorpeland and Cooper Evans drew walks to begin the sixth inning then scored on a 2 RBI double to right field by Cason O’Hair. Fisher Powell hit a sacrifice fly ball for another run and pinch runner Fletcher Cokendolpher, who ran for Lambright after he drew a walk, went to second on a pass ball and third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly ball by Lyndon Harycki for the 11-4 victory.
Houston noted the five innings of shutout baseball for the Bulldogs illustrates plenty about the pitching staff and the defensive players.
“I think our pitchers trust our infielders to make plays,” he said. “We gave up two early and were able to go back and pound the zone and trust your guys to go make plays. They also know that we’re going to be able to go score runs. We knew that eventually we were going to get going. We know that plays a role in it also.”
The coach summarized the game one victory.
“The loss to Lampasas (3-2 March 27), they wanted to get that out of their brains and get going,” he said. “We scored eight runs in the first inning. And when you can go do that, it just allows you to relax and just go play the game. I thought they did a great job of hitting early and scoring runs, and that allowed everybody else just to relax and just go play.”
Burnet welcomes Jarrell Tuesday, April 7, then travels there Friday, April 10. The junior varsity plays at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity at 7 p.m.
“We still pretty much have to have wins,” Houston said. “We can’t lose games that we shouldn’t lose. We have to go be able to go win games that we’re supposed to.”
CAPTION: Mason Watson provided the offensive spark to jump start the Bulldogs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
