The Llano High School baseball team is using the last few days of non-district play wisely as the Yellow Jackets will play four games in four days next week.
After a week off, the Yellow Jackets return to the diamond Tuesday, March 18, in a double header at Austin Hyde Park beginning at 12:00 p.m. with the last game at 2:00 p.m. then travel to Fredericksburg for an 11:00 a.m. contest Thursday, March 20, and at Copperas Cove Friday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m.
Head coach Todd Doucet doesn't shy away from competition and has a very good reason why.
"We get ready to play in a tough (District 5-3A)," he said. "We play in a tough district and I feel like if we play the toughest teams, if we play the toughest preseason schedule out of the six, sometimes the game slows down a little bit. I always do it because it makes you play better. It's exciting."
Before enjoying its week off, Llano competed in the Burnet tournament March 6-7 where the Jackets lost to Maypearl 9-2, the Lake Travis junior varsity 13-1, Wimberley 16-0 and Glen Rose 11-1.
But Doucet wasn't discouraged for a number of reasons. He believes playing programs with higher enrollments is beneficial because it reinforces the importance of getting the basics and fundamentals down.
"We start to understand what the pace of truly good Class 5A and 6A baseball looks," he said. "When you don't do the little things in games, it's very hard to win."
The Jackets had about 15 hits during the four-game event. Teams can not score without runners getting on base. When they do, it's important not to make base-running errors that result in outs.
"A couple of times we got base hits and we get thrown out at the next bag," Doucet said. "We have to run the bases better. (Defensively) one or two errors against a team like Maypearl or Glenn Rose will turn into a lot of runs quickly."
The last two days of the tournament also featured strong winds that forced players to adjust.
"Our pitchers started understanding a little bit that the wind's blowing out," the coach said. "You have to keep the ball down a little bit and give us a chance."
Doucet pointed out some positives he saw, including hitting. He believes District 5-3A is littered with solid pitching, so giving the Jackets those opportunities will be beneficial.
"We've played pretty good defense and we never lost confidence," the coach said. "I'm proud of the way the kids performed. Now we'll take a deep breath and we'll be better heading in the district."
