The McLennan Highlander baseball squad finished with a tournament record of 2-2 at the San Jacinto Tournament in Houston.
In their opening game Friday, the McLennan Highlanders defeated the Alvin Dolphins 13-5 with Dawson Sweatt getting the win on the mound and Kevin Skweres picking up a save.
Alvin jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Dee Torres walk and moved to second on a ground out by Scott Herrmann. Garrett Poston walked and Mark Gomez was safe on an error, loading the bases. Jaison Andujar also walked, bringing Torres in to score. Poston then scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Weir.
McLennan tied the game with two runs in the top of the third. Nick Pierce and Jalen Battles both singled. Jimmy Crooks followed with a fielder's choice, putting Pierce out at third. Caleb Balgaard walked to load the bases. Brett Squires followed with a single to score Battles and Crooks.
The Highlanders took the lead with a run in the fourth. Seth Morrow singled and Heath Pickhardt walked. Pierce followed with a single to score Morrow.
McLennan broke the game open with 10 runs in the seventh inning. Crooks led off with a walk and Balgaard followed with a two-run homer. Squires tripled, Alex Lopez was hit by the pitch and Morrow walked to load the bases. Pickhardt also walked to score Squires. Pierce then singled to score Lopez, and Morrow scored on a sacrifice fly by Battles. Crooks reached on an error to reload the bases. Balgaard then doubled to clear the bases. Balgaard move to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Squires. Squires then moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Garrett Martin.
Alvin rounded out the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Herrmann and Poston both singled and advanced on a ground out by Andujar. Weir then singled to score Herrmann. Julian Rojas followed with a double to score Poston and Weir.
The Highlanders fell to the host San Jacinto Gators 7-2 in the night cap with Connor Phillips taking the loss.
San Jacinto scored two runs in the fourth. Tyriece Silas singled and Hunter Townsend was hit by the pitch. Both runners advanced on a passed ball. Silas then scored on a ground out by Shibley. Armani Sanchez then reached on an error, bringing Townsend in to score.
The Gators added two runs in the fifth. Chase Wilkerson reached safely and advanced around to third on an error and wild pitch. Silas was hit by the pitch and stole second. Wilkerson came in to score on a wild pitch and Townsend walked. Silas then came in to score on a balk.
San Jacinto's final three runs came in the bottom of the sixth. Sanchez singled and Jordan Williams was hit by the pitch. Raymond Torres doubled to score Sanchez, and Williams scored on a sacrifice fly by Wilkerson. Valdez walked and Torres scored on a wild pitch.
McLennan scored a run in the top of the seventh. Martin was safe at first on a dropped third strike and moved to second on a passed ball. Lopez then singled to score Martin.
The Highlanders rounded out the scoring with a run in the top of the ninth. Lopez singled and moved to second on an error. Morrow then singled to score Lopez.
McLennan's Riggs Threadgill and Daniel Cole combined to pitch a no-hitter in Saturday's game as the Highlanders shutout the Alvin Dolphins 3-0.
The Highlanders' first run came in the second inning as Squires doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Martin and scored on a ground out by Crooks.
The final two runs came in the bottom of the third. Pierce was safe at first and moved to second on an Alvin error. Matthew Miles was also safe and moved to second on an error, bringing Pierce in to score. Battles then singled to score Miles.
In the tournametn finale, the Highlanders fell to the San Jacinto Gators 10-0 this morning in their final game of the Houston tournament. Mason Hilton took the loss on the mound for the Highlanders.
San Jacinto scored four runs in the top of the first to take the early lead. Antonio Valdez led off with a triple and scored on a single by Tyriece Silas. Hunter Townsend reached first and moved all the way around to third on a Highlander error, allowing Silas to score. Townsend then scored on a wild pitch. Jordan Williams was hit by the pitch, Blayne Robinson doubled and Zach Limas walked to load the bases. Williams then scored on a sacrifice fly by R.J. Ochoa.
The Gators added a run in the second as Silas doubled, moved to third on a fly out by Townsend and scored on a single by Cole Turney.
Another Gator run scored in the third. Limas drew a walk, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Ochoa then grounded out to score Limas.
San Jacinto added a run in the sixth. Silas singled, moved to second on another McLennan error and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Turnery then grounded out to score Silas.
The Gators rounded out the scoring with three runs in the top of the seventh. Ochoa walked and Raymond Torres singled. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Valdez followed with a double to score Ochoa and Torres. Silas then singled to score Valdez.
McLennan 13, Alvin 5
McLennan 002 100 10 – 13 12 6
Alvin 200 000 3 – 5 5 2
Dawson Sweatt, Kevin Skweres (5) and Jimmy Crooks. Chris Benavides, Joseph Villareal (6), Gerald Bess (7) and Julian Rojas. WP: Sweatt; LP: Benavides; SV: Skweres. Leading hitters – McLennan: Jalen Battle (1-3, RBI), Caleb Balgaard (2-4, 2B, HR, 5 RBI), Brett Squires (3-5, 3B, 3 RBI), Garrett Martin (1-4, RBI), Heath Pickhardt (0-2, RBI) and Nick Pierce (3-4, 2 RBI); Alvin: Scott Herman (2-4), Jaison Andujar (0-3, RBI), Tyler Weir (1-3, 2 RBI) and Julian Rojas (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI). Record: McLennan 8-0.
San Jacinto 7, McLennan 2
McLennan 000 000 101 – 2 9 4
San Jacinto 000 223 00x 7 4 1
Connor Phillips, Ryan Segner (5), Brant Bennett (7) and Jimmy Crooks. Mitchell Parker, Evan Hiatt (7) and Raymond Torres. WP: Parker; LP: Phillips. Leading hitters – McLennan: Jimmy Crooks (2-4), Alex Lopez (3-4, RBI) and Seth Morrow (2-4, RBI); San Jacinto: Raymond Torres (2-4, 2B, RBI), Alan Shibley (0-4, RBI) and Chase Wilkerson (0-3, RBI). Record: McLennan 8-1.
McLennan 3, Alvin 0
Alvin 000 000 000 – 0 0 2
McLennan 012 000 000 – 3 6 1
Riggs Threadgill, Daniel Cole (8) and Jimmy Crooks. Blake Schultz, Brandon Petix (7) and Julian Rojas. WP: Threadgill; LP: Schultz; SV: Cole. Leading hitters – McLennan: Jalen Battles (1-4, RBI), Brett Squires (2-4, 2B, 3B) and Jimmy Crooks (0-2, RBI). Record: McLennan 9-1.
San Jacinto 10, McLennan 0
San Jacinto 411 001 3 – 10 12 1
McLennan 000 000 0 – 0 1 2
Brandon Birdsell, Jonathan Jones (7) and R.J. Ochoa. Mason Hilton, Brady Rose (1), Tanner Brooks, (5), Rene Ramos (7) and Jimmy Crooks. WP: Birdsell; LP: Hilton. Leading hitters – San Jacinto: Antonio Valdez (2-5, 2 3B, 2 RBI), Tyriece Silas (4-5, 2B, 2 RBI0, Cole Turney (1-4, 2 RBI), Blayne Robinson (1-4, 2B), R.J. Ochoa (0-2, 2 RBI) and Raymond Torres (2-3, 2B). Record: McLennan 9-2.
