No. 17 Highlanders sweep Ranger in final home doubleheader

The No. 17 McLennan Highlanders swept the Ranger Rangers Wednesday afternoon in the final home games of the season.

The Highlanders came from behind to defeat the Rangers 7-3 in game one with Connor Heffron getting the win on the mound and Brady Childress picking up the save.

Ranger jumped out to an early lead, scoring all three of its runs in the first two innings.

J.J. Padilla led off the top of the first with a double, moved to third on a ground out by Tucker Burton, and scored on a single by Ricky Rivera.

Alex Garcia led off the second inning with a ground-rule double, and Kaleb Thompson drew a walk. Daniel Goncalves reached first safely on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Padilla followed with a single to score Garcia, and Thompson scored on a sacrifice fly by Burton.

McLennan took the lead with five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Aidan Shepardson and Dylan Neuse both singled. Josh Breaux followed with a three-run bomb, and Keaton Milford hit a solo shot. Thomas Santos was hit by the pitch and moved to second on a ground out by Griffin Paxton. Mitchell Caskey and Chase Sortor both walked to load the bases. Santos then scored on a ground out by George Callil.

Neuse's home run in the fourth put the Highlanders up 6-3.

The final run came in the bottom of the sixth as Breaux singled, moved to second as Milford was hit by the pitch, advanced to third on a fly out by Santos, and scored on a balk.

The Highlanders defeated the Rangers 6-4 in the nightcap with Shane Daughety getting the win and Nick Urbantke picking up the save.

McLennan scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Neuse singled, Breaux walked, and Milford singled on a sacrifice hit to load the bases. Neuse came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Santos. Paxton then singled to score Breaux, and Nick Thornquist drew a walk. Chase Sortor singled to score Milford, and George Callil followed with a single to score Paxton and Thornquist.

Three of Ranger's runs came in the top of the seventh. Rivera singled but was out at second on a fielder's choice by Thompson. Garcia walked, and Thompson came around to score on a Highlander throwing error. Anthony Huggins doubled to score Garcia. Goncalves then singled to score Huggins.

The Highlanders' final run came in the bottom of the eighth as Callil singled, stole second, moved to third on a ground out by Neuse, and scored on a wild pitch.

Ranger rounded out the scoring with a run in the top of the ninth inning as Thompson doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Garcia, and scored on a wild pitch.

McLennan 7, Ranger 3
Ranger 120 000 0 – 3 7 3
McLennan 005 101 x – 7 8 0
Bo Dallas, Trevor March (5) and Ricky Rivera. Alex DeLeon, Connor Heffron (2), Payton Strambler (7), Brady Childress (7) and Josh Breaux. WP: Heffron; LP: Dallas; SV: Childress. Leading hitters – Ranger: J.J. Padilla (3-4, 2B, RBI), Tucker Burton (0-2, RBI), Ricky Rivera (1-3, RBI), Alex Garcia (1-4, 2B) and Kaleb Thompson (1-2, 2B); McLennan: Dylan Neuse (2-4, HR, RBI), Josh Breaux (2-4, HR, 3 RBI), Keaton Milford (2-3, HR, RBI) and George Callil (0-3, RBI). Record: McLennan 37-14 (22-7).

McLennan 6, Ranger 4
Ranger 000 000 301 – 4 7 0
McLennan 005 000 01x – 6 10 1
Logan Dickey, Edwin Colon (3), Luis Ceniceros (3), Brandon Ramos (6), Rick Gerik (8) and Anthony Huggins. Shane Daughety, Logan Freeman (8), Nick Urbantke (9) and Nick Thornquist. WP: Daughety; SV: Urbantke; LP: Dickey. Leading hitters – Ranger: Victor Bueno (1-4, 2B), Kaleb Thompson (1-4, 2B), Anthony Huggins (2-3, 2B, RBI) and Daniel Goncalves (2-3, RBI); McLennan: Dylan Neuse (2-5), Thomas Santos (0-2, RBI), Griffin Paxton (2-3, 2B, RBI), Chase Sortor (1-3, RBI) and George Callil (3-4, 2 RBI). Record: McLennan 38-14 (23-7).