Highlanders stay alive with walk-off win over Odessa
The Highlanders punched their ticket to the championship round with a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Odessa Wranglers earlier in the afternoon. Rene Ramos got the win on the mound.
The Highlanders began the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second as Martin walked, advanced around to third on a single by Shepardson and scored on a single by Jaylen Williams.
Odessa tied the game with a run in the third. Tyler Latham reached first and moved to second on a McLennan error. A sacrifice bunt by Kyler Castillo put Latham on third. T.J. Tomlinson then singled to score Latham.
McLennan took the lead with a run in the bottom of the third as Yeatts doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice fly by Battles and scored on a triple by Moore.
The Highlanders added a run with Shepardson's solo home run in the fourth.
The Wranglers took the lead with three runs in the fifth. Castillo and Tomlinson both singled. Harry Fullerton followed with a three-run homer.
McLennan tied the game with a run in the eighth. Ippoliti doubled and moved to third on a passed ball. Yeatts drew a walk, and Battles singled to score Ippoliti.
The Highlanders sealed the win with a run in the bottom of the ninth. Shepardson led off with a single. Embry and Ippoliti were both given intentional walks, loading the bases. Battles followed with a single to score Shepardson and give McLennan the walk-off win.
McLennan 5, Odessa 4
Odessa 001 030 000 – 4 12 1
McLennan 011 100 011 – 5 10 3
Nick Ellis, Jorge Trevino (4), Noah Brown (8) and Gullio Moncello. Mason Hilton, Rene Ramos (8) and Vince Ippoliti. WP: Ramos; LP: Brown. Leading hitters – Odessa: Kyler Castillo (2-4, 2B), T.J. Tomlinson (4-5, RBI), Harry Fullerton (1-4, HR, 3 RBI) and Gullio Moncello (2-4); McLennan: Jordan Yeatts (1-4, 2B), Jalen Battles (2-3, 2 RBI), Cole Moore (1-4, 3B, RBI), Aidan Shepardson (3-4, HR, RBI), Jaylen Williams (1-5, RBI), Brooks Embry (1-3, 2B) and Vince Ippoliti (1-3, 2B). Record: McLennan 42-16 (24-8).