Marble Falls rallies past Bulldogs

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20. Mar, 2009 0 Comments

Image of Marble Falls rallies past Bulldogs

BURNET – Turner McQuaide spent extra time at the batting cage after
Wednsday’s loss to Cedar Park Vista Ridge. It paid off. McQuaide pickd up
the game-winning hit in the eighth inning as Marble Falls defeaed Burent
10-8 on Thursday at Bulldog Field. “I struggled the past few games,”
McQuaide said. “Last night I went to the cages and reminded myself to
relax and have fun up there.” All nine Mustang starters reached base in
the game, but none were as effective as Tanner Shafer, who was 4 for 5 at
the plate and drove in three runs. “I jsut went out and hit strikes,”
said Shaffer. “We hit thier mistakes and did not swing at the good
pitches.” Marble Falls (8-5) scored four runs in the first. Shaffer put
Marble Falls on the scoreboard with an RBI single to score Justin Garcia.
Garcia singled and went to second on an errant throw to first base by the
Bulldogs. A double steal then proved successful. After it looked like Shafer
was caught between first and second, Cooper Bowen took off for home and just
beat the throw. The Mustangs went up 4-0 thanks to a 2-RBI single by Trent
Norwood that scored Casey Goodman and Shafer. Burnet responded by loading
the bases in the bottom of the inning, but Thor Woerner got out of the
two-out jam when Garcia caught a deep fly ball in centerfield. Burnet got on
the scoreboard when the throw to pickoff Cody Peacock at second went wild
and allowed Dillon Chafin, who had reached on an error, to score. Norwood
picked up his third RBI when he squeeze bunted a run home in the third
inning. Bowen and Shafer then picked up back-to-back singles with the bases
loaded to push the score to 8-1. After C.J. Gilbert tripled, Kyle
Rockafellow hit a towering fly ball to right field to bring him home. After
a pair of walks by Woerner to Grant Martin and Lucas Denison, Emil Litterer
hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to cut the Mustang lead to 8-3.
Woerner hit Martin to begin the fifth, and Martin scored off of a single by
Litterer. He got out of the inning, though after making a behind the back
grab on a line drive back to the mound. Back-to-back doubles by Litterer and
Denison in the seventh inning for the Bulldogs, cut the Mustang lead to
three. After Garcia loaded the bases on walks, Gilbert cleared them with a
double to the wall and tied the game at 8-8. McQuaide broke the tie with an
RBI single in the eighth to score Woerner, who had opend the inning with a
single of his own. Brian Hicks gave the Mustangs a 10-8 lead with an RBI
groundout. “It was good for us to handle adversity,” McQuaide said.
“Every now and then it happens and we have to get it done.” Vista Ridge
3, Marble Falls 0 Casey Goodman is not invincible. It just seems that way.
Marble Falls learned that lesson the hard way when they lost to Cedar Park
Vista Ridge 3-0 on Tuesday. Norwood said he believed the rust was because
the Mustangs were rusty at the plate. Marble Falls was rained out of the
Austin ISD tournament last weekend and had not played in eight days. “We
were not as sharp as we normally are,” Norwood said. “We could not come
up with the big hit.” The Mustangs allowed two runs to cross the plate in
the second inning, after a throw went wild and allowed the runner on first
to go to third and the would-have-been-out runner to reach second base. One
hit later, Marble Falls was down 2-0. And despite several opportunities, it
was a lead the Mustangs could never overcome. With the loss, Goodman is now
4-1 on the season, but his ERA barely moves thanks to the unearned runs. The
left-hander was as effective as always striking out 10 in only five innings
of work. Tanner Shaffer relieved Goodman in the sixth striking out one and
giving up a run on two hits. Marble Falls had its best chance at breaking
through in the sixth inning when they loaded the bases off of a singles by
Sebastian Roman and Thor Woerner and Goodman walked. A strikeout and fly
ball later, all three runners were stranded and the Mustangs were still down
by a couple of runs. “It was a tough day to be a hitter,” Norwood said.
“Their kid (Tyler Wilson) hit his spots. The strike zone was down today,
but that is part of the game and you have to adjust. “He managed to throw
some really good first-pitch strikes.”

: Staff Photo by Nick Talbot Trent Norwood swings and hits a 2-RBI single in the first inning for Marble Falls as it defeated Burnet 10-8 in extra innings on Thursday.