Highlanders defeat Midland to remain undefeated in regional tournament
The McLennan Highlanders defeated the Midland Chaparrals 8-2 on Saturday in the Region V Tournament in Lubbock.
Midland began the scoring with one run in the bottom of the third inning as Josh Narvaiz reached safely on a Highlander error and scored on a triple by Caleb Koedyker.
McLennan took the lead with three runs in the fifth. Miles Manning was hit by the pitch and Mason George walked. Eric Johnson reached first safely and advanced to second on a Midland error, bringing Manning in to score. George scored on a groundout by Evan Williams. Matt Campbell was hit by the pitch. Johnson then scored on a fly out by Max Hogan.
The Highlanders added three runs in the top of the eighth. Hogan and Trevor Podsednik both singled. Zach Gonzalez followed with a single to score Hogan. Manning then tripled to score Podsednik and Gonzalez.
The Chaparrals' final run came in the bottom of the eighth as Chris Thibideau reached on an error, moved to second on a single by Bryndan Arrendondo and scored on a single by Brent Stewart.
McLennan rounded out the scoring with two runs in the ninth inning. Campbell hit a home run. Hogan, Andrew Rhodes and Podsednik all singled. Gonzalez then drew a walk, bringing Hogan home to score.
"Again today, our success started with an outstanding effort on the mound," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "Greg Maisto threw the ball very well and competed very hard. We were solid on defense and made most of the plays we were supposed to make. Midland is an outstanding team that is very well coached. They have a bunch of talented hitters with power. To beat them today, we needed a quality performance on the mound and Greg gave us that.
"Offensively we battled hard, had some timely hits and executed well," Thompson said. "Today's win was a nice win, but we are going to have to do it again tomorrow. Our guys are just focused on the next game, the next inning, and the next pitch."
McLennan 8, Midland 2
McLennan 000 030 032 – 8 12 2
Midland 001 000 010 – 2 7 2
Greg Masito, Tyler Watson (8) and Mason George. Jayden O'Dell, Clay O'dell (5), Sabastian Palacios (9), Dustin Angiel (9) and Chris Shaw. WP: Maisto; LP: J. O'dell. Leading hitters – McLennan: Evan Williams (1-5, RBI), Matt Campbell (2-4, HR, RBI), Max Hogan (2-4, RBI), Andrew Rhodes (3-5), Trevor Podsednik (3-4), Zach Gonzalez (0-4, 2 RBI), Miles Manning (1-4, 3B, 2 RBI), Eric Johnson (0-1, RBI); Midland: Caleb Koedyker (1-4, 3B, RBI) and Brent Stewart (1-3, RBI). Record: McLennan 31-25 (17-15).