Highlanders top Bulldogs

The McLennan Highlanders defeated the Navarro Bulldogs 7-6 on Monday afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark. 

Corey Watkins got the win on the mound for McLennan and Jerry Murillo picked up the save. James Rudkin led the Highlanders at the plate, going 3-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Dimas Ojeda went 2-5 with a double and an RBI. Brandon Grudzielanek went 2-4 and Noah McGowan recorded a double. Creighton Eldridge picked up two RBIs on one hit, while Braxton Hollenshead picked up one RBI.

"This is a really good team win for us," coach Mitch Thompson said. "Navarro is leading their conference by four games right now and should win it again this year.

"We were down and fought our way back into the game. This was our fifth game in less than a week and Navarro's fourth, so we were at a little bit of a disadvantage before we started ... and we were still able to claw out a win!  

"We wanted to throw all of our bullpen guys that haven't seen much time on the mound lately. We gave them each an inning or so, and they will all be available and ready to go again for our conference series with Vernon. 

"I am very happy with the way Daniel Bullard, Jordan Mattlage, Braxton Wilks, Watkins, Cole Ridgely and Murillo competed for us on the mound. They each gave us a scoreless inning or more to help lead us to the win. That's exactly the kind of effort and production we will need for us to continue improving and to make a deep post-season run." 

McLennan 7, Navarro 6
Navarro 032 100 000 – 6 8 1
McLennan 101 021 20x – 7 12 2
Evan Pontley, Dane Lovejoy (3), Ryan Buss (5), Blake Whitehead (7), Keenan Wingfield (8) and Luis Trevino, Tyler Johnson (6). Daniel Bullard, Jako Kelm (2), Jamie Andriot (3), Jordan Mattlage (3), Braxton Wilks (6), Corey Watkins (7), Cole Ridgley (8), Jerry Murillo (9) and J.T. Stevenson, Mason George (7). WP: Corey Watkins; LP: Blake Whitehead; SV: Jerry Murillo. Leading hitters – Navarro: Mason Hesse (2-5, 3B, RBI), Luke Hoyl (2-5, 2B, RBI), Ryan Thomas (1-2, 2B), Cole Williams (1-2, RBI) and Justin Sebo (0-3, RBI); McLennan: Dimas Ojeda (2-5, 2B, RBI), James Rudkin (3-4, 3B, 2 RBI), Brandon Grudzielanek (2-4), Noah McGowan (1-3, 2B), Creighton Eldridge (1-3, 2 RBI) and Braxton Hollenshead (0-0, RBI). Record: McLennan 22-15 (10-10).