Jacob Morgan powers Flower Mound Marcus to 15-5 win over Mansfield Legacy in 6A Texas baseball
FLOWER MOUND, Texas - Two of North Texas' best baseball teams squared off in Flower Mound on Saturday afternoon - and it was a one-sided affair.
The Flower Mound Marcus Marauders (17-5) cruised to a dominant 15-5, five-inning victory over Mansfield Legacy on their home field, thanks in part to a big game from Jacob Morgan. The senior first baseman totaled three hits - including two home runs - and drove in three runs.
“I just saw the ball well today,” Morgan said. “The wind was blowing out which helped me a little bit, especially in the first AB. I kind of just rallied behind my team tonight.”
“The last couple of weeks he’s been really hitting the baseball,” head coach Jeff Sherman said. “Last night he hits a home run, today he hits two. You know obviously, he’s seeing the ball like a beach ball right now.”
Mansfield Legacy (14-5), on the other hand, could not get out of their own way.
A combination of fielding errors and pitching woes dashed the Broncos' chances early on. Through the first four innings, they cycled through three different pitchers. After allowing five runs through two innings, Mansfield starting pitcher Kayden Voelkel gave way to the bullpen.
Marcus' offense exploded to open the third inning. Blake Julius came on in relief of Voelkel but allowed six runs before being relieved by Parker Ibrahimi who closed out the inning.
Contributions from Hank Harp, Jake Duer and Caden Sorrell at the plate helped the Marauders jump out to their dominant lead. Sorrel and Duer both blasted home runs and accounted for six combined runs.
Offensively, the Broncos could only muster one run through four innings, in large part because Marcus pitcher Nathan Harmon was dealing.
“He had a three-pitch mix going and was competitive, in the zone,” said Sherman. “He hasn’t pitched in a while because we haven’t needed him. It was good just to see that for him, since it has probably been four weeks since the last time he’s been on the mound, to go up against a good offense like Mansfield Legacy and shut them down.”
After a pitching change to start the top of the fifth inning, the Broncos tallied four quick runs off Preston Plank to cut the deficit to 13-5 and avoid a mercy rule ending for the moment.
The Marauders had no plans for extra innings, however. They quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth and Griffin Lewis roped an RBI single to make it 14-5. The game ended on a single from Braylen Murth to score Jackson Huffman to make it 15-5 and enforce the mercy rule.
“Preston Plank has been really good for us,” said Sherman. “His ball was just moving all over the place and couldn’t find the zone due to wind and some other things. They climbed back in it a little bit … we just grinded our bats again. I was really excited for our baseball club and how we competed today.”
The Marauders will play the Hebron Hawks in the first leg of a two-game series on Tuesday.
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