Baseball team making strides at the right time
Jeremy Heath

COURTESY PHOTO Kenny Murray (left) was honored in Arizona by the NFLfor his work with youth players through the Boys' and Girls' Club of Lampasas. While he was there, the avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan got a chance to hang out with former Steelers fullback Chris Fumatu-Ma'afala (right).

Don't look now, but the Lampasas High School baseball team is starting to play some ball.

After running into a buzzsaw (junior lefty Casey Goodman) at Marble Falls and turning in a dreadful performance at home against Burnet, the Badgers seemed to regain their focus, confidence and poise last week. They went on the road against two strong District 25-4A opponents and split a couple of tight games. They lost to perennial power Lake Travis, 3-2, after leading 2-1 going into the seventh and scrapped out two runs in the top of the ninth to beat Pflugerville Connally, 8-7.

At 1-3 in district, the Badgers still have some work to do to crawl back into the playoff race, but if they can consistently do the things they did last week, they've got as good a chance as anyone of nabbing a playoff spot.

Jeremy Heath is the Dispatch Record's sports editor. He can be contacted via e-mail at jheath@lampasas.com.

Kyle Landry threw a gem against Lake Travis. Stetson Magilke has overcome a slow start to put together two straight solid starts, and Cody Bailey has been roughed up only once this year (an 11-4 loss to Burnet). Toss in relief performances like the one Remington Gillespie gave his teammates Thursday against Connally, and the Badgers have a pretty deep staff of good highschool arms.

Defensively, the team has been inconsistent, but it also has been dramatically better the past five games than it was early in the season. Offensively, the team made strides against Connally, banging out 11 hits and putting runners in scoring position with aggressive yet smart baserunning (12 of 12 stolen bases ain't too shabby).

Head coach Brian McBeth said with 10 games left on the district slate, it's too early to start tossing around phrases like "must-win games," but I think the two matchups on the schedule this week could, at the very least, be viewed as pivotal. The Badgers play host to Hendrickson tonight and play at Vista Ridge Friday. Both are solid teams, but the combination is no more or less formidable than the one LHS faced last week. My math has the Badgers scoring 10 runs and allowing 10 runs in last week's two one-run road contests.

If they can produce and allow at a similar rate for the next 10 games, they'll at least put themselves in a position to compete for a playoff spot. But the only way this group can drive in as many as it lets in is to keep pitching, fielding and running the bases consistently. A few line drives into the gap here and there are nice, but without those other three aspects, they do a team little good.

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The LHS softball team has proven to be exactly what it was expected to be: exciting as all get out but as inconsistent as it is exciting.

After reeling off back-to-back district wins against Burnet (10-1) and Lake Travis (5-2), the Lady Badgers lost 5-2 at Connally on Thursday to fall to 2-4 in the 25- 4A loop.

Two of this team's four losses are to excellent teams. Vista Ridge is the best all-around team in the district, and Dripping Springs has the best pitcher. The 4-3 loss at Marble Falls was more than winnable (a throwing error resulted in the winning run), and in the loss to Connally the team hit the ball hard but right at fielders.

Tonight's home game against Hendrickson marks the final game of the first half of the loop. That means head coach Chris Gaffney and his girls will have seen every team in the district.

If they win tonight to pull to 3- 4, they can enter the second half of the loop knowing only two teams in the district legitimately are better than they are. If that doesn't give them confidence enough to play like a playoff team from here on out, I don't know what will.

After all, the only difference between where they stand and a 4- 2 district record is consistency.

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Local sports fans know Kenny Murray.

Murray does radio broadcasts for Badger sports and coaches youth football here in Lampasas.

Next time you run into him at a game or the grocery store, ask about his trip to Arizona. Not only did Murray get recognized by the NFLfor the contribution he makes to youth sports through the Boys' and Girls' Club of Lampasas, but he also got to live a sports fan's dream.

An avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan, Murray met retired Steelers fullback and born-again Christian Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who was speaking at the event where Murray was honored. Here's the wild part: Murray and the Honolulu native and former University of Utah star ended up chumming around all weekend.

To put this into perspective here in Dallas Cowboys country, try to imagine heading off to a conference where, let's say, Darren Woodson is a guest speaker. You strike up a conversation, and that conversation turns into three days of hanging out with a guy who knows what it feels like to try to tackle Barry Sanders.

I'm jealous, Kenny.