Highland uses big inning to pull away from Galion in MOAC showdown
GALION — Highland coach Don Kline has stressed one thing to his players this season.
"Not to give up," he said. "We have to keep fighting."
With two outs in the fifth inning, the Scots kept fighting and managed to load the bases. One run scored on a passed ball, two more on bases-loaded walks, then another two on a line drive to center.
That five-run explosion proved to be the difference as Highland nabbed a 12-5 win over the Tigers as their quest to regain control of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference continues.
"Baseball is a game, when you have guys in front of you, it's a lot easier," Kline said. "The approach was really good by the boys there. They dialed in, put some balls in play hard, and I think that kind of took the wind out of the sails of the Tigers there."
Before Highland's big inning, it was a neck-and-neck contest with the Scots leading 5-4 entering the fifth. Even having extended the lead to six, Kline knew his team had to keep its foot on the pedal. Which is exactly what the Scots did in the seventh tacking on two more insurance runs to hit a dozen.
"One of the things that we found out about high school baseball is it's never over until it's over — 21 outs, there's no timer here," Kline said. "Especially when you play an American League offense like the Tigers, you have to put some points on the board, you gotta get runs up there and make it light up. We had good pitching and good defense for the most part, but they put balls in play so hard and they put pressure on you.
"So you've got to get that separation and keep adding, you can't give them a chance to get back in the game because they'll make you pay if you do."
Something neither team benefitted from defensively was a razor thin strike zone. Two of the best locators in the MOAC, Highland's Kort Sears allowed seven hits, four earned runs and struck out two while Galion's Kael Longwell gave up nine hits, 10 runs, six earned and struck out one.
"I don't think either of us were very happy about it," Galion coach Kenny Fagan said. "I think that we maybe gave away a few extra runners that we usually don't. Kael is usually pretty good at filling it up, so that was tough for both sides. But that's not why we lost."
"I think Kort Sears is one of the better pitchers in the area, and it was not his best day today," Kline added. "But again, when you play a team like this the Tigers they could make a lot of guys have their 'B-game', so to speak. I thought he competed well and I think he gave us everything he could."
After a 5-0 start to the season, Galion now dropped its fourth consecutive game and the Tigers' third in MOAC play. Braxton Prosser led with two hits, three RBIs and two runs. Allen Carver, Longwell, Max Albert, Hunter Miniard and Ben Albert each had a hit.
"We just gotta get back to find that toughness we had beginning of the year," Fagan said. "Losing a little bit of grit … we got punched in the mouth a few times and it's tough having to come back all the time, especially against a really good team."
Conversely, this was the Scots' third straight win after dropping their second MOAC game of the season to Shelby last week. Jayden Collins had three hits, four runs and an RBI. Zach Church and Hayden Kline had two hits apiece, Church had four RBIs, Kline two RBIs and Sears one RBI.
With a league title as the end goal for both of these teams, Kline isn't panicking yet.
"Most the teams in the league, outside of Shelby and maybe Harding, have two losses," Kline said. "I know it's kind of coach speak to say our league is balanced — but no, the MOAC's balanced. We've seen from the scores around the league, anybody can beat anybody. Even the wins we had early on were still dog fights.
"It's a fun league and it's competitive, but we're hoping it really helps us to get ready for a tournament run."
Fagan knows there's work to be done.
"I think there's going to be a four- or five-loss team that probably wins it," Fagan said. "Anybody can beat anyone on any night, so it's definitely fun. We just gotta start competing a little bit more so we can be at the top of it."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Highland beats Galion in MOAC baseball clash
