Highlanders pound Odessa, keep regional title hopes alive

In another late-night affair, the McLennan Highlanders defeated the Odessa Wranglers 9-2 Sunday night to stay alive in the Region V Tournament in Lubbock. Lightning delays forced the first pitch to be delayed 50 minutes, from 8 p.m. to 8:50 p.m.

Kyrell Miller got the start for the Highlanders on the mound and picked up the win.

McLennan took an early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second. Griffin Paxton led off with a triple and Cole Haring drew a walk. Chase Sortor followed with a sacrifice fly to score Paxton. George Callil doubled to score Haring, and Callil scored on a single by Joe Breaux.

The Highlanders doubled their lead with three runs in the fourth. With two outs on the board, Chris Roller singled. Joe Breaux and Nic Motley drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Roller came in to score on a wild pitch and Josh Breaux walked. Brendan Venter then singled to score Joe Breaux and Motley.

A Josh Breaux home run in the bottom of the sixth extended the Highlanders' lead to 7-0.

Odessa's two runs came in the top of the seventh. Wade Raburn was hit by the pitch and Chase Duncan singled. Kyler Castillo followed with a single to score Raburn. Mason Hibbeler singled and Duncan scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Morales.

The Highlanders rounded out the scoring with two runs in the eighth as Josh Breaux and Paxton both singled and scored on a triple by Sortor.

McLennan 9, Odessa 2
Odessa 000 000 200 – 2 10 1
McLennan 030 301 02x – 9 15 1
Shaston Johnson, Trestan Kennard (4), Trevor Ripke (8) and Mitch Holding. Kyrell Miller, Michael Cugini (7) and Nic Motley. WP: Miller; LP: Johnson. Leading hitters – Odessa: Kyler Castillo (2-5, RBI), Mason Hibbeler (2-4) and Andrew Morales (1-4, 2B, RBI); McLennan: Joe Breaux (2-4, RBI), Josh Breaux (3-4, HR, RBI), Brendan Venter (2-4, 2 RBI), Griffin Paxton (2-4, 3B), Chase Sortor (2-4, 3B, 3 RBI) and George Callil (1-4, 2B, RBI). Record: McLennan 48-11 (26-6).