Marble Falls baseball sweeps Jarrell
Courtesy photo
The Marble Falls High School baseball team stomped Jarrell 15-3 April 24 to sweep the District 24-4A series.
The win means the Mustangs (23-5, 11-3) finish as the district runners-up.
They will face Gatesville in a bi-district best-of-three series at Thrall High School. Game one is Wednesday, April 29, game two is Thursday, April 30, and game three, if necessary, is Friday, May 1. First pitch is at 7 p.m. for each contest.
“I was pretty proud of this season,” said senior Atreyu Machacek, who was the Mustangs’ starting pitcher against the Cougars. “We did a lot better than last year and I’m really glad that we beat Lampasas twice for the first time and I’m glad we had a good start (by beating Stephenville two games to one in a three-game series Feb. 20-21). It feels good to stay with that whole group for three years.”
The Cougars (2-21, 1-13) plated two runs in the first inning thanks to earning walks.
Marble Falls responded in its half of the inning. Juniors John Alan Whittle and Grant Carter each drew walks then scored on singles by sophomore Crawford Mattox and junior Casey Layton for a 3-2 lead.
Then the Mustangs broke it open in the fourth inning. Freshman Drew Whittle led off with a single to center field and Machacek hit a double to center field. Junior Owen Nash picked up the RBI on a groundout. Senior Andrew Elwartowski hit a blooper behind second base and John Alan Whittle hit a 2 RBI triple down the left field line and scored on a balk. After Carter drew a walk, senior Canon Cochran hit a RBI single to left field then went to second on a pass ball.
Layton hit a RBI double and Machacek hit a RBI single to left-center field. By the end of the inning, the Mustangs plated 12 runs and head coach Tyler Porter was able to get pinch hitters into the lineup.
The Mustangs recorded 12 hits led by John Alan Whittle, Machacek, Cochran and Layton, who had two each. John Alan Whittle and Cochran each drove in 3 runs, while Carter had two of the team’s four stolen bases.
Machacek smiled as he thought back to the inning, noting it felt “great.”
“Because everybody has confidence,” he said. “Once that first hit came in, everyone else was highly confident.”
Machacek earned the win by allowing two runs off three walks and no hits with two strikeouts in the first inning. Freshman Landon White allowed one walk, struck out two and didn’t allow a run in 1 1/3 innings. Sophomore Anderson Liscum allowed a RBI triple after issuing a walk in the top of the fifth inning. He had six strikeouts in a row while pitching the final 2 2/3.
Defensively, the Mustangs didn’t commit an error.
As the game was coming to a close, Porter replaced the seniors one at a time to allow the the large crowd, many of whom were there for the “one last pitch” ceremony of Scearce Field, to express appreciation for the current players.
Machacek said he “felt very nervous” taking the mound after returning from injury.
“Overall it felt pretty good,” he said. “Honestly, I didn’t feel like I was in rhythm at all. Everything. just felt off. I’m pretty sure it’s because that was my first day back. I was just super nervous.”
The senior echoed much of the sentiments from the alumni who gathered behind former head coach Ronnie Scearce as he threw the final pitch on a historical night.
“I really love this baseball team,” Machacek said. “It made me feel like I have a second home setting. I’ve done the best things that could happen to me. It makes my day.”
