The McLennan Highlanders swept the Weatherford Coyotes Saturday afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark to complete the four-game conference series sweep.
The Highlanders took game one 4-3 with Jase Embry getting the win and Palmer Wenzel picking up the save on the mound.
McLennan jumped out early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. Mario Vela singled and moved to second on a passed ball. George Callil followed with a triple to score Vela. Callil then scored on Chris Roller's two-run homer.
Weatherford got on the board with a run in the top of the fourth as Andrew Keefer singled, moved to third on a double by Landon Gray and scored on a McLennan error.
The Highlanders added a run in the fourth as Brendan Venter tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brock Morrison.
The Coyotes' final two runs came in the sixth as Keefer singled and Gray followed with a two-run homer.
McLennan's offense showed out in game two with the Highlanders winning 10-2. Jason Blanchard picked up the win on the mound.
The Highlanders dominated from the beginning, scoring six runs in the first. Joe Breaux hit a solo home run. Roller then singled and scored on a double by Nic Motley. Motley moved to third on a ground out by Josh Breaux and scored on a single by Venter. Griffin Paxton then doubled to score Venter. Chase Sortor followed with a two-run bomb.
Weatherford's first run came in the second as Jamie Lovell doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Lachlan Mayo and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake White.
The Highlanders added one in the second as Joe Breaux was hit by the pitch, stole second, moved to third on a fly out by Motley and scored on a single by Josh Breaux.
McLennan plated another run in the third as Callil was hit by the pitch, stole second and scored on double by Joe Breaux.
The Coyotes' final run came in the fifth as Jake Michener singled, moved around to third on a double by Malik Jones and scored on a ground out by Nicholas Evarts.
Another Highlander run scored in the bottom of the fifth as Griffin Williams singled, moved to third on a single by Callil and scored on a Weatherford error.
McLennan's final run came in the seventh. Venter singled and moved to third on a single by Paxton. Venter then scored on a balk.
"Sweeps are hard to come by in this league, so anytime you can get a four-game sweep, you've got to be very happy with your guys," head coach Mitch Thompson said.
"Today was a day where we played a one-run ballgame in game one. Embry was very good on the mound, Wenzel with the save was outstanding, and we got the big hits to win that ballgame. I'm just proud of that effort. Then, we came out very business-like in game two and put a six-spot on them in the first inning. That set the tone for the game. The guys continued to play hard for the rest of the ballgame – just made plays and made pitches. Anytime you do that, you are just continuing to get better. We gave up a total of five runs today in 16 innings of play with the wind blowing 20 mph out. Give credit to our pitchers and give credit to our defense. For the most part, we limited extra opportunities and limited extra outs, and we were good offensively."
"We've had a good week. Now we have to refocus and get ready to play at Vernon Wednesday, then a doubleheader at home on Friday. We've got five games coming up in the next five days, so that will tax us for sure."
McLennan 4, Weatherford 3
Weatherford 000 102 0 – 3 8 0
McLennan 003 100 x – 4 5 1
Ryan Van Leeuwen and Landon Gray. Jase Embry, Palmer Wenzel and Josh Breaux. WP: Embry; LP: Leeuwen; SV: Wenzel. Leading hitters – Weatherford: Andrew Keefer (2-3), Malik Jones (2-4) and Landon Gray (2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI); McLennan: George Callil (1-3, 3B, RBI), Joe Breaux (1-2, RBI), Chris Roller (1-3, HR, RBI), Brendan Venter (1-3, 3B) and Brock Morrison (0-1, RBI). Record: McLennan 31-7 (12-3).
McLennan 10, Weatherford 2
Weatherford 010 010 000 – 2 5 2
McLennan 611 011 00x – 10 13 1
Mitchell Walters, Zach Boyett (2), Austin Cornish (3), Andrew Knutson (4), Tyler Perez (7), Dylan Smith (8), Corbin Bozosi (8) and Jake White. Jason Blanchard, Brady Childress (7), Josh Breaux (8), Hunter Spaeth (9) and Nic Motley, Nick Thornquist (8). WP: Blanchard; LP: Walters. Leading hitters – Weatherford: Malik Jones (1-3, 2B), Nicholas Evarts (0-3, RBI), Jamie Lovells (1-4, 2B), Jake White (0-2, RBI) and Jake Michener (2-2); McLennan: Joe Breaux (2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Nic Motley (1-3, 2B, RBI), Josh Breaux (1-4, RBI), Brendan Venter (3-4, 2B, RBI), Griffin Paxton (2-5, 2B, RBI) and Chase Sortor (1-4, HR, 2 RBI). Record: McLennan: 32-7 (13-3).
