Highlanders sweep Angelina
The McLennan Highlanders swept the Angelina Roadrunners this afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark.
The Highlanders defeated the Roadrunners 8-3 in game one with Mark Doerries picking up the win on the mound. Cole Haring led McLennan at the plate, going 3-3 with a double, a home run and two RBIs. Cory Voss, Noah McGowan and Nic Motley all homered. Motley recorded three RBIs, McGowan had two and Voss had one. Brendan Venter went 2-4 with a double.
McLennan defeated Angelina 9-4 in game two with Dustin Jourdan getting the win. James Rudkin was 3-4 with a home run and an RBI. Tucker Johnson and McGowan both recorded a double, and Venter hit a triple. Voss picked up two RBIs while Mario Vela and Chris Roller had one each.
"Overall I'm very pleased with the way we started off the year this weekend with three wins," coach Mitch Thompson said. "I thought that against Angelina, one of the key things was that we responded virtually every time that we got behind. I didn't see any panic in the dugout and I didn't see anybody getting out of character on the field. Everybody just kept their poise and we played well."
"We had some great things happen on defense. Our catchers threw the ball well this weekend which was a nice plus. We made a lot of routine plays but we need to get better defensively and we will. The fun thing is that this club is going to be able to swing the bat pretty well and we have guys who are threats up and down the lineup. Having the chance to play 14 or 15 different-position guys this weekend was a good thing and they performed well. We had a team average of .398 through the three games with 19 extra-base hits. We swung the bat with authority and scored a bunch of runs."
"Our pitching defense was good for opening weekend and we are going to continue to get better in all aspects of the game. Next week, we are challenged by going to the San Jac Tournament of Champions in Houston. That will definitely test our pitching staff and our team. There is nothing but good ballclubs down there and we will have our hands full."
McLennan 8, Angelina 3
Angelina 102 000 0 – 3 5 1
McLennan 002 231 x – 8 9 1
Elijah Rodriguez, Baily Holstein (4) and Mitchell Andrews. Collin Sharp, Mark Doerries (4), Palmer Wenzel (7) and Nic Motley. WP: Doerries; LP: Rodriguez. Leading hitters – Angelina: Ryan Bellamy (1-4, HR, RBI) and Mitch Henshaw (2-3, 2B, RBI); McLennan: Cory Voss (1-2, HR, RBI), Noah McGowan (1-4, HR, 2 RBI), Brendan Venter (2-4, 2B), Nic Motley (1-2, HR, 3 RBI) and Cole Haring (3-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI). Record: McLennan 2-0.
McLennan 9, Angelina 4
Angelina 000 400 0 – 4 7 2
McLennan 200 241 x – 9 10 2
Cameron Williams, Kevin Roe (4), Cody Cash (5) and C.J. Pye. Chris Glover, Dustin Jourdan (4) and Cory Voss. WP: Jourdan; LP: Roe. Leading hitters – Angelina: Daniel Lingua (1-4, 2B), Jacob Finke (1-3, 2B), Alex Walker (1-3, HR, 2 RBI) and C.J. Pye (2-2); McLennan: Tucker Johnson (1-4, 2B), James Rudkin (3-4, HR, RBI), Cory Voss (1-4, 2 RBI), Noah McGowan (1-2, 2B), Brendan Venter (1-4, 3B, RBI), Mario Vela (1-3, RBI) and Chris Roller (1-2, RBI). Record: McLennan 3-0.