McLennan Highlanders claim tournament title, set to host super regional
Inclement weather forced the Region V North Tournament to move from Waco to Abilene but that didn't stop the McLennan Highlanders from rolling to a 10-4 victory over the Temple Leopards in the championship game Monday morning.
McLennan scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Mason Greer singled and scored on a double by Dominic Tamez. Hank Bard drew a walk, and Jaylen Williams followed with a double to score Tamez and Bard. Izzy Lopez then singled to score Williams.
Temple got on the board with a run in the top of the third as Aundre Jackson triple and score on a single by Seth Stephenson.
The Highlanders responded with two runs in the bottom of the third. Tamez was hit by the pitch and Alex Lopez walked. Bard singled to score Tamez, and Lopez scored on a wild pitch.
Two more McLennan runs scored in the seventh. Alex Lopez doubled and both runners were safe on a fielder's choice by Chase Brown. Williams singled to load the bases. Alex Lopez and Brown both scored on a single by Izzy Lopez.
Temple added two runs in the top of the eighth. Joseph Redfield singled and Stephenson walked. Cole Payne followed with a single to score Redfield, and Dylan Blomquist singled to score Stephenson.
McLennan's final two runs came in the bottom of the eighth. Miguel Santos doubled and scored on a single by Blake Jackson. Jackson then stole second, advanced to third on a ground out by Mason Greer and scored on a wild pitch.
The Leopards rounded out the scoring with a run in the top of the ninth. Ty Tilson singled and was replaced by pinch runner Jacob Elizondo. Jackson then tripled to score Elizondo.
McLennan will host Cisco in the Region V Super Regional later this weekend with times to be determined.
McLennan 10, Temple 4
Temple 001 000 021 – 4 10 0
McLennan 042 000 22x – 10 12 0
Nathan Medrano, Marcus Mott (3), Brian Shadrick (4), Diego Escobedo Fernandez (7), Trevor Glaser (8), Kolby Wilson (8) and Andruw Gonzalez. Will Carsten, Jack Williams (8), Landry Wideman (9) and Dominic Tamez. WP: Carsten; LP: Medrano. Leading hitters – Temple: Seth Stephenson (1-3, RBI), Cole Payne (1-4, RBI), Dylan Blomquist (1-4, RBI) and Aundre Jackson (3-4, 2 3B, RBI); McLennan: Miguel Santos (3-5, 2 2B), Blake Jackson (2-5, 2B, RBI), Dominic Tamez (1-4, 2B, RBI), Alex Lopez (1-2, 2B, RBI), Hank Bard (1-2, 2B, RBI), Jaylen Williams (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Izzy Lopez (2-4, 3 RBI). Record: McLennan 40-16 (24-7).