The McLennan Highlanders swept the conference-leading Grayson Vikings on Thursday afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark.
McLennan defeated Grayson 10-5 in game one with Sterling Wynn getting the win and Patrick Herbelin picking up the save.
The Vikings began the scoring with one run in the first inning as Matt McLean walked, moved around to third on a Highlander error and scored on a groundout by Chris Gittens.
The Highlanders tied the game in the bottom of the second. Trevor Podsednik singled and moved to second on a groundout by Mason George. Zach Gonzalez then reached first safely and advanced to second on a Grayson error, bringing Podsednik in to score.
Grayson took the lead with two runs in the third. Will Schwanke was hit by the pitch and McLean drew a walk. Luke Hamblin followed with a single, scoring Schwanke. Gittens then doubled to score McLean.
McLennan added one run in the third as Zac Valenzuela was hit by the pitch, moved to second on a single by Podsednik, advanced to third on a Grayson error and scored on a fly out by Gonzalez.
The Highlanders tied the game with a run in the fourth as Miles Manning singled, stole second and scored on a single by Andrew Rhodes.
The Vikings scored two runs in the fifth to take the lead. Hamblin and Gittens both singled. Austin Krajnak followed with a single to score Hamblin, and Gittens scored on a Highlander error.
McLennan took the lead with four runs in the fifth. Valenzuela and Podsednik drew back-to-back walks. George followed with a fielder's choice, putting Valenzuela out. Gonzalez then singled to score Podsednik. Sydney Daley reached first safely on an error to load the bases. George scored on a groundout by Evan Williams. Manning then singled to score Gonzalez and Daley.
The Highlanders rounded out the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. George walked and Gonzalez hit a bunt single. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Daley. Williams drew a walk to load the bases. Manning followed with a double, scoring George, Gonzalez and Williams.
McLennan needed an extra inning to defeat Grayson 4-3 in the nightcap.
The Highlanders got on the board with one run in the bottom of the second as Podsednik singled, moved around to third on a single by Gonzalez and scored on a single by Sydney Daley.
McLennan added a run in the fourth as J.T. Stevenson singled, moved to second on a single by Williams and scored on a single by Manning.
Grayson scored all three of its runs in the fifth inning. James Gillean and Hamblin both walked. Gittens singled to score Gillean and move Hamblin to third. Hamblin came in to score on a fly out by Krajnak. Reding followed with a triple, scoring Gittens.
The Highlanders stole the win with a run in the bottom of the 10th. Grayson relief pitcher Cory Scheibner hit pinch hitter Garrett Wallace with the pitch to begin the inning. Wallace was replaced by pinch runner Tanner Fritsch. Scheibner then walked Hogan and Rhodes to load the bases. Viking's pitcher Mike Wade replaced Scheibner on the mound. Wade's first pitch was wild, rolling to the backstop and letting Fritsch come home to score.
"I am really excited about the two wins today. We beat a very good team," coach Mitch Thompson said.
"The most exciting thing is that today's wins were truly team wins. We pitched well all day long. Sterling Wynn and Patrick Herbelin competed very well for us in game one. Both guys had to overcome some mistakes we made on defense, but they kept their poise and made the pitches we needed to win the game," Thompson said. "In game two, Nathan Bertness was outstanding in relief, throwing five scoreless innings."
"Several guys stepped up for us today. We were forced to make a couple of lineup changes today due to illness running through our team," Thompson said. "Miles Manning was particularly good filling in at shortstop for a sick Matt Campbell. It's like we preach all the time, when one guy goes down, it's time for another guy to step up. We will need to do it again if we plan on winning on Saturday."
McLennan 10, Grayson 5
Grayson 102 020 0 – 5 8 6
McLennan 011 143 x – 10 10 3
Willie Schwanke, Brad Adams (5), Jordan Jackson (5), Trey Marker (6) and Jean Ramirez. Sterling Wynn, Patrick Herbelin (6) and Mason George. WP: Wynn; LP: Adams; Save: Herbelin. Leading hitters – Grayson: Luke Hamblin (3-4, RBI), Chris Gittens (2-3, 2B, RBI) and Austin Krajnak (1-4, RBI); McLennan: Evan Williams (1-3, RBI), Miles Manning (3-5, 2B, 5 RBI), Andrew Rhodes (1-3, RBI), Trevor Podsednik (2-3) and Zach Gonzalez (2-4, 2 RBI). Record: McLennan 17-16 (6-7).
McLennan 4, Grayson 3
Grayson 000 030 000 0 – 3 5 2
McLennan 010 101 000 1 – 4 11 0
Landon Wilson, Cory Scheibner (7), Mike Wade (10) and Weston Pitts. Enrique Oquendo, Nathan Bertness (5) and J.T. Stevenson. WP: Bertness; LP: Scheibner. Leading hitters – Grayson: Chris Gittens (1-5, RBI), Austin Krajnak (0-5, RBI) and Zack Reding (2-4, 3B, RBI); McLennan: Miles Manning (1-5, RBI), Max Hogan (0-4, RBI), Sydney Daley (2-5, RBI) and J.T. Stevenson (2-3). Record: McLennan 18-16 (7-7).
