Highlanders dominate Crowder, head to national title game

The McLennan Highlanders reserved their spot in tomorrow's National Championship with a dominating 15-5 run-rule victory over the Crowder Roughriders tonight. Jack Hattrup picked up the win on the mound for the Highlanders.
 
Crowder began the scoring with Peyton Holt's solo home run in the top of the first.
 
McLennan responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning including an RBI-double by Blake Jackson.
 
Four more Highlander runs scored in the second inning including back-to-back solo home runs by Miguel Santos and Blake Jackson.
 
McLennan added three runs in the third. Izzy Lopez and Santos both singled and scored on a single by Garrett Martin. Martin then advanced to third on a single by Greer and stole home.
 
The Roughriders put two runs on the board in the fourth. Holt singled and scored on a triple by Landrey Wilkerson. Wilkerson then scored on a fly out by Josh Patrick.
 
The Highlanders responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Alex Lopez doubled and scored on a Crowder error that put Jaylen Williams on second. Williams then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Marquis Jackson. Izzy Lopez singled and Marquis Jackson scored on a ground out by Santos. Blake Jackson then singled to score Izzy Lopez.
 
Another Crowder run scored in the fifth as Jeffry Mercado reached on an error and came around to score on a pair of singles by Holt and Wilkerson.
 
The final Roughrider run came in the top of the sixth. Rod Criss, Clayton Gray and Logan Chambers all walked, loading the bases. Mercado was then hit by the pitch, scoring Criss.
 
The Highlanders secured the run-rule win with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Marquis Jackson walked and Izzy Lopez singled, both scoring on a walk-off two-run single by Blake Jackson.
 
McLennan advances to tomorrow's national title game and will face the Central Arizona Vaqueros, the 2019 national champions, at 8 p.m. (CT). The Highlanders will be looking to claim the title for the first time since 1983.
 
McLennan 15, Crowder 5
Crowder 100 211 – 5 6 5
McLennan 243 402 – 15 15 1
James Hicks, Reece Lang (3), Breven Yarbro (4) and Jack Stroth. Jack Hattrup, Gray Harrison (6) and Dominic Tamez. WP: Hattrup; LP: Hicks. Leading hitters – Crowder: Peyton Holt (3-4, HR, RBI), Jeffry Mercado (0-3, RBI), Landrey Wilkerson (2-3, 3B, 2 RBI) and Josh Patrick (0-2, RBI); McLennan: Miguel Santos (2-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Blake Jackson (4-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI), Garrett Martin (2-4, 3 RBI), Dominic Tamez (1-3, RBI), Alex Lopez (1-3, 2B) and Marquis Jackson (1-3, RBI). Record: McLennan 46-16 (24-7).