Marcus’ Heather Foust struck out 13 and allowed just one hit in an 11-0 win Monday over Euless Trinity in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

     The game was called after six innings, and by that point Trinity already had six errors defensively. Their only hit was a bunt in the top of the fourth inning. Marcus – which lost in the first round a year ago --pounded out 13 hits and led 6-0 after the first four innings.

     “It feels really good,” Marcus head coach Christy Tumilty said. “The core of this group wanted to get this first win after last year’s early loss. We wanted to make sure we won. We looked sharp.”

     The Marauders (21-6-2 overall) will face Irving Nimitz in the second round. Game time was slated for 7 p.m. on Friday at Irving Nimitz. It will be Marcus’ first foray past the first round of playoffs since earning a trip to the state tournament two years ago and second playoff game this season played at the opposing team’s home field.

     Foust was the obvious catalyst. She looked just as solid as she had all season and ripped through the heart of the Trojan lineup despite its reputation of being able to pound the ball all over the field – in particular their two, three and four hole hitters. Foust was 17-3 during the regular season.

     “We definitely knew they were strong and didn’t want to give them pitches that were too fat to hit,” Tumilty added. “She (Heather) did well. She got batters to chase a few pitches and really did a good job in getting them to pop up or ground out.”

     Offensively, Foust had nothing to worry about. Her teammates scored three runs in the first inning and extended the lead to 5-0 after two innings of work. They added one in the fourth, three in the fifth and two in the sixth, sparked in large part by Devon Wallace and Sarah Draheim. Wallace had a double and triple on the night while Draheim pounded out three doubles.

     The win gives Marcus – which hadn’t played a game since April 25 due to the swine flu scare – two straight shuts outs and three in their last four games.

     Up next is Nimitz, who beat Wylie 5-4 on Saturday in Game 3 of a best-of-three series. Third basemen Nina Castillo pounded an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win. Nimitz lost Game 1 only to come back with two straight wins.

     “They will definitely be good,” Tumilty said. “They have a good pitcher and they are a consistent team overall. It won’t be easy.”