The McLennan Highlanders completed the four-game sweep of the Vernon Chaparrals with two wins Friday afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark.
The Highlanders defeated the Chaparrals 6-1 in game one with Jase Embry getting the win on the mound.
McLennan took the early lead, scoring one run in the top of the first as Joe Breaux doubled, stole third and scored on a ground out by Nic Motley.
The Highlanders added a run in the second as Brendan Venter led off with a triple and scored on a ground out by Griffin Paxton.
Josh Breaux gave McLennan the 3-0 lead with a solo home run in the fourth.
McLennan doubled its lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Motley was hit by the pitch and Josh Breaux singled. Paxton followed with a double to score Motley and Josh Breaux. Paxton then came around to score on a wild pitch.
David Pewenofkit's solo home run in the top of the seventh was the Chaparrals' only run.
The Highlanders defeated the Chaparrals 12-5 in the nightcap with Jason Blanchard getting the win on the mound.
Marco Rivera gave Vernon the lead with a home run in the top of the first.
McLennan took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Chris Roller led off with a solo home run. Josh Breaux then tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Venter.
The Highlanders added three runs in the second. Nick Thornquist doubled, Roller was hit by the pitch and Joe Breaux singled to load the bases. All three runners scored on a double by Josh Breaux.
Four more Highlander runs scored in the fourth. George Callil singled and stole second. Roller was safe at first on a Vernon error, moving Callil to third. Joe Breaux singled to score Callil. Josh Breaux followed with a double to score Roller and Joe Breaux. Cole Haring then singled to score Josh Breaux.
Vernon's second run of the game came in the top of the sixth as Sawyer Toole doubled and came around to score on a McLennan error.
The Chaparrals added another run in the seventh as Caden Hartsburg walked, moved around to third on a single by Luis Valenzuela and scored on a single by Michael Flohr.
McLennan scored another two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Callil was safe at first on an error and scored on a double by Roller. Roller then moved to third on a ground out by Joe Breaux and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jackson Nichols.
The final two Vernon runs came in the top of the eighth. Toole was hit by the pitch and scored on a double by Rivera. Rivera then came around to score on two wild pitches.
The Highlanders rounded out the scoring with a run in the bottom of the eighth as pinch hitter Keaton Milford singled, moved around to third on a double by Haring and scored on a ground out by Thornquist.
"You've gotta love it when you pitch as well as we did. We were able to get a bunch of guys in the game on the mound, especially late in the second game," head coach Mitch Thompson said.
"In game one, Embry was outstanding and really dominated the game. I wanted him to try and get a shot at the shutout, but when he gave up the home run in the seventh, I decided it was time to put Josh Breaux in for an inning. Josh came in, and his stuff was electric, and that was great."
"In game two, I loved the way Blanchard threw. I could have left him in there, and he would have dominated the game, I believe, but I wanted to get Logan Freeman, Brady Childress, Hunter Spaeth and Connor Heffron in the game. I actually wanted to get a couple more guys in the game, but I just didn't have enough innings to do it. I'm really proud with our pitching."
"We were very solid on defense today. When you pitch and play defense, you are going to be in every game. Then, when you put our offense with that – as dynamic as we can be, as many different guys as we can put at the plate who can drive the ball out of the ballpark – you've got a chance of really having another nice day, and we did."
McLennan 6, Vernon 1
Vernon 000 000 1 – 1 4 0
McLennan 110 103 x – 6 5 0
Landon Longsworth, Michael Baumann (6) and Cooper Edwards. Jase Embry, Josh Breaux (7) and Nic Motley. WP: Embry; LP: Longsworth. Leading hitters – Vernon: David Pewenofkit (2-3, HR, RBI); McLennan: Joe Breaux (1-3, 2B), Nic Motley (0-2, RBI), Josh Breaux (2-3, HR, RBI), Brendan Venter (1-2, 3B) and Griffin Paxton (1-3, 2B, 3 RBI). Record: McLennan 35-7 (16-3).
McLennan 12, Vernon 5
Vernon 100 001 120 – 5 6 2
McLennan 230 400 21x – 12 14 1
Trevor Hukill, Nicholas Zelner (4), R.J. Gaines (5), Zach Cummings (8) and Cooper Edwards. Jason Blanchard, Logan Freeman (5), Connor Heffron (7), Hunter Spaeth (8), Brady Childress (9) and Nick Thornquist. WP: Blanchard; LP: Hukill. Leading hitters – Vernon: Sawyer Toole (1-3, 2B), Marco Rivera (2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Michael Flohr (2-4, RBI); McLennan: Chris Roller (2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Joe Breaux (3-3, 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI), Brendan Venter (0-2, RBI), Cole Haring (3-5, 2B, RBI), Nick Thornquist (1-3, 2B, RBI) and Jackson Nichols (0-1, RBI). Record: McLennan 36-7 (17-3).
