Marble Falls baseball sweeps Lampasas
CAPTION: Junior lead-off batter John Alan Whittle (2) taps his helmet with junior Grant Carter after touches home plate to score the game’s first run — a solo homer — in the first inning. Photo by Sandra Butts
The Marble Falls High School baseball team defeated Lampasas 7-4 April 9 in District 24-4A play.
The game was originally scheduled for April 10, but coaches agreed to the date and time change, opting for a varsity only contest slated for 6 p.m., to avoid predicted bad weather. Like the Mustangs’ Scearce Baseball Field, the Badgers’ home field has natural grass.
As the Mustangs drove U.S. 281 North, rain was falling. And the weather didn’t change until junior lead-off batter John Alan Whittle hit a solo bomb to start the contest. After that, the rain ceased and so did other things.
“I don’t know if there’s one defining moment of the game, but that obviously early on was probably the biggest,” head coach Tyler Porter said. “And it was kind of a weird day because we were moving up to beat the rain. It was bearing down while we’re driving up to Lampasas. And then there was no rain. As we’re starting, it starts drizzling, it starts getting a little bit harder. And then Whittle’s first at-bat is when the rain is starting to come down. He yanks one out, and it kind of took the air out of Lampasas a little bit. You could tell the weather was bothering them a little bit more after that home run. The best part is – he hit that bomb then we back it up with two more.”
Senior Canon Cochran hit a single, sophomore Crawford Mattox connected on a RBI double, and freshman Landon White hit a ground ball to score Mattox for a 3-0 lead.
“So that first inning was huge,” Porter said. “And Whittle’s swing set the tone.”
Though the Badgers scored a run in the first inning, the Mustangs added runs in the third inning. White hit a double, sophomore Cade Briseno singled up the middle, junior Casey Layton drew a walk, junior Owen Nash singled to left field, Whittle drew a walk, and junior Grant Carter singled to left to send runners home.
“We scored three more in the third,” the coach said. “That 6-1 was kind of where we started getting a little bit more comfortable. Landon White’s double was big, but again the bottom half of the order doing what they’re doing has been good. That’s been the difference really between the Salado series and the Lampasas series. Our five, six through nine (batters) have really been swinging it well.”
Pitcher Cochran, who also is the starting catcher, earned the win thanks to allowing one earned run and a walk in three innings.
“(Cochran) was good for us last year on the mound,” Porter said. “There was no doubt he could go out there and give us three good innings with Crawford throwing (April 7). It’s that time of year where you think about arms and everybody is healthy. So I didn’t want to run him out there and have him throw 50 or 60 (pitches). I think one of the unhealthiest things you can do as a coach is have a kid catch a bunch of innings and then go to the mound. In reverse, it’s not so bad pitching and then going to catch. I told Canon to we need three good innings, and he gave that.”
White threw two innings and Mattox closed it out.
“The best thing about Landon – I like him more as a pitcher than a hitter. He’ll be a force next year on the mound for sure,” the coach said. “The mindset is huge. And (Mattox) has that for sure. He’s not a closer, he’s still going to start for us, but he’s a kid with that mentality. I’m comfortable putting him in any situation. Command and competitiveness are the big things. I know when I put him on the mound, he’s going to throw strikes and he’s going to give everything he has to get kids out, whether that’s the first inning or the last one or two. He’s going to do whatever it takes. He’s an awesome kid to coach.”
Marble Falls travels to Taylor for a 6 p.m. varsity only contest Tuesday, April 14, then welcomes the Ducks to Scearce Baseball Field at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 17.
“That’s one thing we talk about is extending the lead in a district game,” Porter said. “No lead is safe and Lampasas is a good team, so the more runs we put up, the better we feel about our chances to win, about what we need to do pitching and defense to just make life a little bit easier. The phrase we use is chasing outs. We’re not really trying to stop runs. If there’s nine outs left to the game, we have to get nine outs before they get however many runs. We’re just trying to secure outs to not interrupt that and then just changing the whole mindset in a good way.”
CAPTION: Marble Falls freshman Landon White continues to produce at the plate by driving in runs and giving the Mustangs some separation. Photo by Sandra Butts
