Highlanders extend streak to 15 with sweep of North Central

The No. 3 McLennan Highlanders extended their winning streak to 15 games with a doubleheader sweep of the North Central Lions Saturday afternoon at Bosque River Ballpark.

The Highlanders defeated the Lions 10-4 in game one with Connor Heffron getting the win on the mound. 

North Central began the scoring with one run in the top of the second as Coleman Grubbs singled and scored on a double by Alex Aguilar. 

McLennan tied the game with Brendan Venter's solo home run in the bottom of the second.

The Highlanders took the lead with a run in the third. Chris Roller singled and stole second. Joe Breaux followed with a single, and Roller scored on a sacrifice fly by Nic Motley.

McLennan added three runs in the fourth. Brock Morrison was safe at first on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice by Cole Haring. George Callil was hit by the pitch and Roller walked to load the bases. Joe Breaux walked to score Morrison, and Josh Breaux walked to score Callil. Venter then walked to score Roller.

The Lions scored three runs in the fifth. Justin Garrett doubled, Walker Davis walked and Luke Morton singled to load the bases. Jake Gerogiases followed with a single to score Garrett and Davis. Grubbs then doubled to score Morton.

The Highlanders rounded out the scoring with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Morrison singled, Haring bunted and Callil walked to load the bases. All three runners scored on a double by Roller. Roller stole third and Joe Breaux walked. Josh Breaux followed with a single to score Roller and Joe Breaux.

McLennan held North Central scoreless through the first seven innings of game two en route to the 5-3 victory. Jason Blanchard picked up the win on the mound and Palmer Wenzel got the save. 

The Highlanders scored two runs in the second. Chase Sortor, Cole Haring and Nick Thornquist all walked, loading the bases. Sortor scored on a balk, and Haring scored on a sacrifice fly by Mario Vela.

McLennan added a run in the third as Joe Breaux doubled, moved to third on a balk and scored on a single by Josh Breaux.

A solo home run by Josh Breaux in the fifth put the Highlanders up 4-0.

The Lions cut the McLennan lead in half with two runs in the eighth. Beard and Garrett both singled. Beard scored on a line-drive out by Davis. Garrett moved around to third on a McLennan error and scored on a wild pitch.

The Highlanders' final run came in the bottom of the eighth as Venter doubled and scored on a single by Haring.

North Central's final run came in the top of the ninth as Beard singled, moved to second on an error, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Davis.

"Sweeps aren't easy, so today was another great day. To get all four from North Central was good," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "I thought we played well overall. Our defense had some outstanding plays and turned some double plays. Our shortstop play from Callil has been outstanding all year and our outfield play has been pretty phenomenal as well with the plays that our athletic outfielders can make – it's crazy. Haring came up big today. Joe Breaux has made unbelievable plays. Chris Roller ran down a ball today again that was big. I couldn't be more pleased with that."

"Today was a tough day to hit and I think the pitchers on both sides took advantage of it. I was glad our guys filled up the strike zone and attacked their hitters and made them hit to get on base. In doing that, we ended up not beating ourselves and winning the ballgames. I think a big part of us winning, at least game two, was the fact that we drew a bunch of walks from North Central early in the game. It created some opportunities for us to come up with a couple hits that ended up busting it open."

"Overall I'm really proud of the way we are going. We are 40-7 now with two weeks of the regular season left. We are continuing to just push and press, trying to improve and work the kinks out, and continue to give guys opportunities. We are going to need an entire team effort to continue to do good things once we get to Lubbock and the regional tournament. That's what the whole season is all about."

McLennan 10, North Central 4
North Central 010 030 0 – 4 10 1
McLennan 011 350 0 – 10 11 1
Jake Norton, Charles Hatcher (4), Kordan Ward (6) and Dalton Davies. Jase Embry, Connor Heffron (5) and Josh Breaux. WP: Heffron; LP: Norton. Leading hitters – North Central: Justin Garrett (1-2, 2B), Luke Morton (2-4), Jake Georgiases (1-3, 2 RBI), Coleman Grubbs (3-4, 2B, RBI), Alex Aguilar (2-4, 2B, RBI); McLennan: Chris Roller (3-4, 2B, 3 RBI), Joe Breaux (1-2, RBI), Nic Motley (0-3, RBI), Josh Breaux (2-3, 3 RBI), Brendan Venter (1-1, HR, 2 RBI) and Cole Haring (2-3). Record: McLennan 39-7 (20-3).

McLennan 5, North Central 3
North Central 000 000 021 – 3 12 0
McLennan      021 010 01x – 5 7 2
Parker Fanning, Drake Thompson (8) and Dalton Davies. Jason Blanchard, Brady Childress (7), Palmer Wenzel (8) and Nick Thornquist. WP: Blanchard; LP: Fanning, SV: Wenzel. Leading hitters – North Central: Devin Beard (5-5, 2B), Walker Davis (2-4, 2 RBI) and Coleman Grubbs (2-4); McLennan: Joe Breaux (1-4, 2B), Nic Motley (1-4, 2B), Josh Breaux (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, Brendan Venter (1-4, 2B), Cole Haring (1-3, RBI) and Mario Vela (0-2, RBI). Record: McLennan 40-7 (21-3).