Marble Falls baseball goes undefeated at Llano tourney

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore Braxton Dicken slides into third base after taking multiple bases to get into scoring position against Austin Hyde Park. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School baseball team went 4-0 at the Llano’s Hill Country Classic tournament Feb. 26-28.

The Mustangs (7-1) slipped past Austin Hyde Park 6-5 Feb. 28 after crushing Liberty Hill Legacy Ranch 13-0, Comanche 12-1 both on Feb. 27, and Hyde Park 9-1 to begin the event.

Head coach Tyler Porter noted his players performed well.

“I don’t mean this in a cocky way in any shape or form,” he said. “I think we were the better team. We did what we were supposed to do. We had outstanding at-bats, really all through the order. Our pitchers filled up the zone, didn’t kick the ball around. So we played like we should and kind of the results went the way we hoped they would. “

Especially in the rematch with Hyde Park.

With the game tied at 5-5 going into the bottom of the final inning, junior John Alan Whittle led off with a drag bunt to reach first, while junior Grant Carter singled, and senior Canon Cochran was intentionally walked to load the bases. Sophomore Crawford Mattox scored the winning run on a single.

The Mustangs scored three runs in the first inning when sophomore Anderson Liscum walked, the Panthers committed an error and senior Andrew Elwartowski reached on catcher’s interference. Liscum hit a single in the second inning to give Marble Falls a 5-0 lead then Hyde Park responded in the fifth inning with five runs.

Pitcher Liscum (1-0) struck out four and allowed three hits, no walks and no runs over four innings.

Throughout the tournament the pitching staff got plenty of run support as illustrated by the 10 runs Marble Falls scored in the first inning against Comanche where junior Owen Nash and Mattox each hit a RBI double, Liscum hit a 2 RBI single, Whittle hit a 2 RBI double, and Carter drew a walk that resulted in scoring a run, and two errors scored another three runs.

Meanwhile, Mattox struck out three, walked two and allowed two hits and one unearned run over three innings. Freshman Gage Goebel took over in the final inning and didn’t allow a hit while striking out two and walking one.

Whittle (2-0) was on the mound for the win against Legacy Ranch where he fanned seven strikeouts, allowed one hit, one walk and no runs over four complete innings.

Carter led the offensive attack with three hits on three at-bats and drew two walks. Marble Falls got it going early with Cochran and Nash each hitting a single down the third-base line, while freshman Landon White hit into a fielder’s choice and scored a run.

In the second inning Mattox singled, Nash walked and an error allowed the Mustangs to score. Whittle doubled, Carter singled and Goebel walked to each score a run in the third inning. Marble Falls finished with 10 hits.

Cochran (1-1) opened the tournament with a strong showing on the bump, striking out four and allowing six hits, no walks and two runs over three innings. White took over for the final two innings and allowed one hit, no walks and struck out three.

Offensively, the Mustangs had 10 hits with Whittle, Carter and Cochran each getting two. Carter and Cochran drove in two runs apiece. Marble Falls plated three runs in the first inning thank to a Cochran RBI single and an error scoring two more. Whittle and Carter each hit RBI singles in the second inning and another run scored on a single by sophomore Cade Briseno.

Porter knew what he had in pitching and defense and was even impressed by the Mustangs’ offense. All of that indicates an important ingredient for any team.

“I feel good — knock on wood — about the depth,” he said. “We have three guys (Cochran, Mattox and Whittle) coming back from last year that we knew could do it and then some other pieces who have figured it out and are getting the opportunity and improving.”

What also made the wins so impressive were the number of multi-base hits from the Mustangs, who have shown speed around the bases to apply pressure on defenses to make accurate throws to basemen for outs.

“I think we have six triples as a team, which is crazy because you don’t see that a lot,” Porter said. “I think the biggest thing is baseball is a hard game to play when you feel a ton of pressure on yourself and anytime we can score — whether it’s early, whether it’s in bunches — it takes pressure off of our pitchers, but that couples with the defense. Pitching and defense travel complementary. It’s a little easier to pitch and play defense because you feel like you’re going to get that run support. If you feel like you have to be perfect every pitch and only go up one run a game, that’s hard to do for anybody at any level.”

Marble Falls will participate in the Comal Clash hosted by Fischer Canyon Lake Thursday-Saturday, March 5-7. The Mustangs play Canyon Lake at 11 a.m. and Moody at 1:45 p.m. Thursday and Holliday at 11 a.m. Friday in pool play.

CAPTION: Marble Falls junior Grant Carter applauds after scoring a run on a single as assistant coach Hayden Kesselring welcomes him. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro