Highlanders pound Wharton

The McLennan Highlanders pounded the Wharton Pioneers 11-1 this afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark to improve their overall record to 11-3 on the season. The Highlanders sent nine pitchers to the mound for an inning of work each with Daniel Cole coming away with the win.

McLennan began the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the third as George Callil drew a walk and scored on Keaton Milford's homer.

The Highlanders added two runs in the fourth. Nick Thornquist was safe at first on a Wharton error, and Brooks Embry singled. Aidan Shepardson followed with a fielder's choice, putting Thornquist out at third. Thomas Santos then doubled to score Embry and Shepardson.

Three more Highlander runs scored in the bottom of the sixth. Callil was safe at first on a Wharton error, stole second, advanced to third on another error and scored on a wild pitch. Josh Breaux and Milford then drew back-to-back walks and scored on a single by Griffin Paxton.

Wharton's only run came in the top of the seventh as Ben Casas singled, moved around to third on a double by Charles Robinson and scored on a single by Colton Carrion.

McLennan added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh as Embry walked and scored on Santos' home run.

The Highlanders rounded out the scoring with two more runs in the eighth. Milford walked and Sortor singled. Both runners scored on a single by Paxton.

"Today was obviously a good win. It was good to get back out after the weekend and get back on the winning ways," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "The thing that I'm probably the most proud of is that we pitched nine different pitchers, and every guy that went out there threw the ball well. Defensively, we were pretty solid, and our pitching staff is obviously continuing to improve. Getting those guys all an inning is important because it will pay off and keep them fresher for this weekend."

"Offensively, I thought we had some guys step up. It was good to see Paxton get four RBIs. Santos hit the double and a home run; it was a great outing for him. We had a good day, an 11-1 win, you've got to be pleased with that. We've got our hands full coming up this weekend. We will be challenged big time playing three games with Howard, but we are looking forward to the competition and the challenge," Thompson said.

McLennan 11, Wharton 1
Wharton 000 000 100 – 1 9 6
McLennan 002 203 22x – 11 1 1
Ryan Jennings, Brandon Bolt (5), Daniel Hecker (6), Matthew Oleson (7), Kyle Gruller (8) and Shane Podsednik, Beau Olsovsky (8). Jase Embry, Max Mize (2), Shane Daughety (3), Nick Urbantke (4), Daniel Cole (5), Connor Heffron (6), Alex DeLeon (7), Grant Miller (8), Payton Strambler (9) and Josh Breaux. WP: Cole; LP: Jennings. Leading hitters – Wharton: Daniel Goss (2-4), Josiah Ortiz (1-4, 2B), Charles Robinson (1-4, 2B) and Colton Carrion (2-4, RBI); McLennan: Keaton Milford (1-3, HR, 2 RBI), Chase Sortor (2-5,2B), Griffin Paxton (3-5, 4 RBI) and Thomas Santos (2-4, 2B, HR, RBI). Record: McLennan 11-3.