JEROMESVILLE — The Hillsdale Falcons put up six runs in the first inning as a precursor to the scoring onslaught that would follow Friday night at Hillsdale High School’s baseball stadium.
The Highland Fighting Scots defeated Hillsdale 16-13.
The Morrow County-based Scots found themselves in a deep hole early, down 6-0 after one.
“I don’t think there’s too many plans you have for that,” Highland head coach Donnie Kline said. “You know, as a coach, our job is to come up with a plan A, right? Then if plan B doesn’t work out, you have plan C… Well, that’s like plan Z right there.”
“Early in the year we haven’t scored early,” Falcons head coach Jason Snow said. “So we spent a lot of time yesterday on the machine, doing a lot of machine work, a lot of live-arm work, a lot of bunt work, and I don’t know if that helped carry it over, but yeah, it was one of the unusual ones. So it was a big lift for us to help our pitchers out.”
The Fighting Scots responded in the top of the second with four runs of their own, squeezing the margin down to two.
“Of course, they answered in the second, and I thought that was a big spot as, you know our goal is to go get a big inning, go put a zero, and come back and hit again,” coach Snow said. “I thought that was big.”
Hillsdale didn’t score in the bottom of the second and there was a massive momentum swing with the Scots scoring seven runs in the top of the third inning.
The Falcons kept playing with intensity and scored two runs in the bottom of the third, with the help of a home run from from Kale Lewis.
“[When the count is] 0-0, first pitch, I’m always looking to hammer a ball. So got one at the waist, high fastball, and the rest was it,” Lewis said.
Lewis also had two throws to first to end the previous inning.
“We talk about defense a lot,” Lewis said. “Defense wins championships. So we were working on our defense a lot, and you know to win games you have to hold them. And unfortunately, tonight we didn’t, but that’s what we’re gonna be working on moving on.”
Solid pitching from Hillsdale shut out Highland in the top of the fourth, followed by a massive five-run inning in the bottom of the fifth. A fly ball over the first base side fell in play and after a throw that went to the Hillsdale dugout, three scored. Hillsdale led 13-11 after four innings.
Morgan Kline went from pitching to driving in runs in the top of the fifth to make it 13-12.
“It’s just always fun being a utility guy,” Morgan said. “We’re a team-first program, and guys do everything they can to help the team. So however I can [help], whether it’s throwing strikes, catching balls in the outfield, or having fun picking up my guys on the bench. It’s just a fun time out here.”
In the bottom of the fifth, Hillsdale had runners on second and third with two outs, but a caught foul ball ended the inning.
In the top of the sixth with two outs, Highland got an RBI with a line drive over second base to center field, tying the game at 13.
Then the play of the game happened: Jayden Collins smacked a two-run homer.
“So the pitcher was leading everybody off with the first pitch curveball,” Collins said. “And I just saw it and turned on it.
“Honestly, we preach, letting our defense play, and our pitchers let us let our defense play today. Obviously, a little more hits than we would like, but you know, just staying active out there. Every pitch is very important.”
An inning-ending double play in the bottom of the sixth gave Highland a 16-13 lead.
Lewis was back in the top of the seventh when he caught a line drive at shortstop, then ran down and tagged a Highland player.
Hillsdale couldn’t complete the comeback, as there was a spectacular catch in left-field foul territory for an out, followed by a throw to first for the final out.
“Tip your hat to Hillsdale, that team can really stick it,” coach Kline said. “It was an American League night and a lot of fun.”
“We’re just expected to be tough outs,” Morgan said. “That was our motto going in this week, picking up the bats, being a tough out, especially tough with two strikes.”
Contributed by Curt Conrad.
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Highland Photo Gallery
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J Collins (SS) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| B Newsome (LF) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Z Church | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| M Kline (CF) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C Youngman (2B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| N Landefeld (P) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C Minnick (3B) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| L Shaffer (1B) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R Schmidt (RF) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| B Burson (P) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Team Totals: 37 AB, 16 R, 19 H, 15 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO
Extra Base Hits:
2B: J Collins, Z Church
3B: M Kline
HR: J Collins
Total Bases: J Collins 6, M Kline 4, Z Church 4, N Landefeld 3, C Minnick 2, C Youngman 2, R Schmidt 2, B Burson 1, B Newsome 1, L Shaffer 1
Other:
HBP: J Collins
SB: Z Church 2, B Newsome
E: R Schmidt
| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Russell | 0.2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| N Landefeld | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Kline | 2.0 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| B Burson (W) | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Team Totals: 7.0 IP, 14 H, 13 R, 8 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO
Pitches–Strikes:
R Russell 38–18
N Landefeld 14–8
M Kline 41–27
B Burson 34–23
Batters Faced:
R Russell 10, N Landefeld 4, M Kline 15, B Burson 11
Team Totals: 35 AB, 13 R, 14 H, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 2 SO
Extra Base Hits:
2B: A Hoffman, B Bower, C Barrett, K Lewis
HR: K Lewis
Total Bases: K Lewis 6, B Bower 3, A Hoffman 2, B Heller 2, C Barrett 2, H Hickey 2, K Lewis 2, C Mosher 1, J Trevathan 1
Errors: J Trevathan 2
🔹 Pitching| Pitcher | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E Wilson-Mills | 2.2 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| C Helbert (L) | 3.1 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| B Bower | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Team Totals: 7.0 IP, 19 H, 16 R, 14 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO
Other:
HBP: C Helbert
Pitches–Strikes:
E Wilson-Mills 61–42
C Helbert 54–35
B Bower 14–7
Batters Faced:
E Wilson-Mills 21, C Helbert 19, B Bower 3
