A weird and wacky bottom of the first inning Tuesday night led to four runs for Marble Falls, as the Mustangs beat the Badgers 7-5 to hand Lampasas its first district loss of the season.
A dropped third strike, followed by a ground ball off the pitcher’s hand in the bottom of the first inning, allowed the first two Mustang hitters to reach base and build momentum. They would gather a few hits to follow that and plate four runs to take an early lead.
The Badgers struggled to get their bats going, as they were held to just one run through five innings. When they finally heated up in the sixth and seventh innings, it was just too late. Lampasas ran out of outs in the comeback effort.
The Badgers scored three in the sixth inning and one in the seventh, and ended the game with the tying run at the plate.
After the game, head coach Chance Evans talked about the first inning that gave Marble Falls the momentum to get ahead early.
“I think it was kind of fluky,” Evans said. “The first two batters we get a pass ball on a third strike, and he gets on. We get a ball that just goes right off our pitcher’s hand that’s probably a double play ball if it gets through clean.
And it was just kind of fluky, and they picked up some momentum there and we lost it, and we just didn’t get it back in time.”
With the rough start, the Badgers did a good job of battling back to give themselves a chance late in the game, but they didn’t get the final hit they needed in the seventh that could have tied the game.
Calum Mitchell started on the mound, and he pitched five innings. Mitchell gave up seven runs -- five of them earned -- and nine hits while striking out five.
Devin Sahr pitched the bottom of the sixth for Lampasas. He gave up just one hit and struck out one while putting up a zero.
Overall, the Badgers collected six hits including doubles from Anthony Dimas and Corbin Kepler. Dimas had three runs batted in while Kepler had one.
Evans was disappointed to lose, but he said sometimes a loss can be just the thing that refocuses a team before it goes on a big run. Now was as good a time as any for that loss to come, because only three district games remain, and then the playoffs will follow.
“It can be a good thing for us, make us lock back in, make us hit a little bit, make us understand momentum a little bit better, and everything we want is still in front of us,” the head coach said.
Coming into the week, the Badgers needed to win one of these two games against Marble Falls to secure the one-seed for the big school division going into the postseason. Now they will need to win the second game (which was moved from Friday to Thursday night) to make sure they lock that up.
The Badgers are now 8-1 in district play, while Marble Falls is 4-3 with Thursday’s game left to play (it was played after the press deadline). Then the Mustangs play Taylor and Jarrell, who sit at the bottom of the district standings, to round out their regular season, while the Badgers will compete against the districtleading Salado Eagles in their final series.
For Thursday’s contest, the Badgers were expected to have their ace Calvin Phelps on the mound. Kade Landry was not used on Tuesday, and he would be available in relief if necessary. The Badgers also will be in a more comfortable environment with the game played at home in front of their home fans.
“We feel like we’re sitting in a very good position right now,” Evans said about the Thursday night matchup.
In the junior varsity contest Tuesday, the Badgers lost a 7-6 game. Lampasas collected eight hits and committed two errors, while Marble Falls picked up nine hits and also had two errors.