Highland Cougars Open Baseball Season; Fall to Scotland Co.
Lewistown, MO — The Highland Cougars got their season started at home as they took on the Scotland County Tigers, falling to the Tigers in six innings, 12-2. Junior Brock Schneider started on the mound for Highland, while Scotland County senior Evan Arnold took the mound for the Tigers.
The Tigers would get their offense rolling in the first as a pair of RBI singles would set the Tigers up 2-0. The second would see a sac fly and a single to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead, and add another in the third to make it 5-0. The Cougars would find some offense in the third, as a fielder’s choice allowed freshman Kaden Cable to score, 5-1.
The Tigers wouldn’t let up, adding another to make it 6-1 in the fourth and 3 more in the fifth, to go up 9-1. The Cougars would make a pitching change in the fifth, as freshman Wade Lundberg would take over on the mound. Cable would score another for the Cougars in the fifth off an error to make it 9-2. The Tigers would add another three runs to make the game 12-2. The Tigers would go to Carter Clatt in the bottom half as he closes out the game and picks up the win.
After the game, Coach Street gave his thoughts on the team’s first game of the season. “Pitching-wise, I thought we did really well. I thought Brock filled it up, and Wade did a good job throwing strikes.” Coach Street continues, “And that’s all we can ask out of our pitchers. Defensively, I feel we gave up most of those runs that they scored today. That’s something we’ve got to focus on and continue to work on.”
“Hitting-wise, I’m okay with. We made contact, we didn’t strike out too many times, but again, defensively, we have to pick that up.”
The Cougars start the season 0-1, as they have a quick turnaround and head to Monroe City for a Clarence Cannon Conference matchup on Tuesday, March 24th, with first pitch slated for 5.
KEY STATS
Highland; 2 R, 1 H, 6 E
Brock Schneider (L); 4.2 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 3 ER, 8 K
Kaden Cables; 0-1, 2 R
Baxter Ledbetter; 0-3, 1 RBI
Scotland Co.; 12 R, 8 H, 4 E
Evan Arnold (W); 5.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 4 K
Tayte Richmond; 2-3, 3 R, 3 RBI
Kwayde Hamilton; 2-5, 2 RBI
