Burnet baseball loses bi-district series to Waco Robinson

CAPTION: Freshman Hudson Crawford showed he can play multiple positions and help the Bulldogs in numerous ways. 

The Burnet High School baseball team lost to Waco Robinson 8-1 May 2 in a bi-district series of the Class 4A Division II playoffs.

The Bulldogs end their season at 13-17-1 and 6-6 in District 24-4A play.

“I’m super proud of our kids,” Burnet head coach Russell Houston said. “They competed, they played with great attitude, and they played good defense. We struggled hitting the ball this year, and we knew that that was going to be a probable issue for us all year long. I was so proud of the way our kids competed and the way they fought and never gave up. They never just quit. So it was a good series.”

Robinson scored four runs in the second inning with two outs. The Rockets added another run in the in the third inning and fourth innings to take a 6-0 lead.

Burnet put its fortunes on the arm of junior pitcher Mason Watson, a Bulldog who started throughout the year.

“I thought Mason pitched well,” the coach said. “They fouled a bunch off and got his pitch count up there pretty high pretty quick. They did a great job of competing at the plate and just getting enough of things to win the ball game.”

The Bulldogs plated a run in the fifth inning.

“(We) had a chance to score a couple more, and they made a really good defensive play to end a rally with two outs,” Houston said. “And then we brought in the freshman (pitcher Hudson Crawford), and he pitched well. They just got a couple of hits.”

It’s not uncommon for a pitching change after five innings.

“They had been through the lineup three times and (we) didn’t want to give them another shot at getting to (Watson),” the coach said. “So we brought in Hudson.”

Houston said all of the Rockets’ runs were earned.

“They hit the ball well,” he said. “Our kids played well defensively, and I thought we pitched well. They did a great job of hitting with two strikes and two outs. We were able to get to two strikes a lot, we just couldn’t finish the deal.”

The coach said typically the difference between the squad that prevails and the squad that doesn’t is the one that can bring home runs with two outs.

“They did a tremendous job, and I don’t have to give them credit,” he said. “They did a great job of just poking some things just getting enough of the baseball. Nothing just outrageous, like no doubles off the wall or anything like that, just some singles. They did a great job of hitting with two strikes and two outs. Like I’ve said forever – if you can get two-out hits, then you have a really good chance of winning baseball games and if you can keep the team from getting those hits, then you have a shot.”

Going into the season, Houston noted the roster was filled with talented Bulldogs who may not have had a lot of varsity experience. So he scheduled 15 games in three weeks to help with the learning curve and discovered some positives as the season unfolded.

“Our kids competed,” he said. “Our kids competed really well. There were a lot of young new kids that were on the varsity this year that had not seen it, and it was a successful season. They got into the playoffs, they competed. For seniors to make the playoffs for all the years that they were on the varsity and to be successful, it says a lot about those seniors and it says a lot about the young ones, who figured some things out and there for for it. In the long run so super proud of our kiddos. I love them to death and wouldn’t trade them.”

CAPTION: Head coach Russell Houston (left) noted that Mason Watson has plenty of traits that make him a tremendous athlete. Among them are his desire to prepare and compete, his short memory when it comes to bad plays, and his trust in his teammates to make plays.