Bulldogs beat Mustangs to complete series sweep
Jennifer Fierro Special To The Highlander Tue, 04/23/2024 - 02:44 Image
Marble Falls sophomore runner Canon Cochran waits for his opportunity to steal second. 
Marble Falls senior Isaias Roman prepares to drive the ball to the outfield. Photos by Jennifer Fierro/TexasChalkTalk.com 
Marble Falls sophomore pitcher Atreyu Machacek keeps the Mustangs within striking distance thanks to his performance against Burnet.
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The Burnet High School baseball team beat Marble Falls 8-2 April 19 in District 24-4A play.
The Bulldogs (24-3, 121), who already won the 2024 district crown, scored two in the first inning. Senior Dash Denton hit an RBI double to left field after Trey Morrow scored on a pass ball.
“Anytime you can score early, it allows you to relax a little bit on defense and go play,” head coach Russell Houston said. “It sets the tone. If you’re scoring seven or eight runs a game, you’re going to win a lot of baseball games.”
The Mustangs used four different pitchers. Their starter didn’t get out of the first inning. The next pitcher, sophomore Atreyu Machacek, ensured the Bulldogs added only one more run before exiting the contest.
The biggest positive for Marble Falls was the lack of errors committed during the game. The Bulldogs stranded at least one runner in every inning. By contrast, the Mustangs left a total of two.
While head coach Tyler Porter acknowledged that, he also noted his team didn’t do enough to help itself.
“We gave them 32 free bases,” he said. “The walks are still killing us. We’re consistently inconsistent. We don’t throw enough strikes.”
In the third inning Denton went home to increase the Burnet advantage to 3-0.
The Bulldogs scored 2 more in the fifth highlighted by Alex Cantrill and Colby Zinz. Cantrill was walked, went to second on a bad throw and to third on a wild pitch. The two perfectly executed a suicide squeeze when he went home on Zinz's sacrifice bunt.
Cason O’Hair added to the lead on a RBI single in the sixth inning.
The Mustangs got on the scoreboard in their half of the inning. Junior Mason Long drew a walk, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Senior Evan Nickowski hit a RBI single to the left-center field gap and later scored after stealing second and going to third on a bad throw.
But that was all.
“I thought our defense played solid,” Houston said.
“We made every play we needed to make.”
Burnet got the runs back after starting the seventh inning with walks. Morrow got an RBI, while Denton hit a RBI double to the left corner.
Pitcher Denton got the win by allowing 2 earned runs on 2 hits with 2 walks and striking out 10. Some Mustangs looked mixed up on called third strikes where they couldn’t decide to swing or not until it was too late. They were frozen in indecision until the ball was caught by catcher Cantrill. Houston noted Denton put the ball just about anywhere he wanted, which helped cause the confusion.
“Dash did go out and pitch well,” Houston said. “He forced them to hit the baseball. I thought he commanded his curveball early. I thought he commanded his fastball. Anytime you can throw your off-speed pitches for a strike allows you to mix up your looks and mix up your speeds.”
Cooper Faris took over in the seventh.
“We wanted him to go out there and throw hard and throw strikes,” Houston said. Burnet won without starters Noah Crawford, Khris Kassner and Colton Stanford. The three were with the track team at the Class 4A Region III championships and advanced to the final.
“We’re super excited for those kiddos, very excited they got to run at the regional track meet,” Houston said.
Burnet travels to Lago Vista Tuesday, April 23, while Marble Falls welcomes Jarrell. The junior varsity plays at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity follows. The Mustangs will honor their seniors before the final home game of the season.
Jennifer Fierro publishes reports about area youth athletic events on her website TexasChalkTalk.com. To send her a note, email fierro jennifer@yahoo.com.
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