No. 16 Highlanders pick up three-game sweep of No. 17 Navarro

The 16th-ranked McLennan Highlanders swept the 17th-ranked Navarro Bulldogs in a three-game series this weekend.

On Friday, the Highlanders defeated the Bulldogs with a 5-3 win in Corsicana. Freshman Kyrell Miller got the win on the mound and freshman Josh Breaux picked up the save. 

McLennan began the scoring with two runs in the top of the third. Brock Morrison singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. George Callil followed with a double to score Morrison. Callil moved to third on a groundout by Griffin Williams and scored on a triple by Chris Roller.

Navarro tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the third. Matt Wood drew a walk and Layton Wover laid down a bunt. Wood moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a fly out by Matt Munoz. Wolver advanced around to third on a Highlander error and scored on a single by Robert Salazar. 

The Highlanders added three runs in the eighth as Callil and Williams both singled and scored on a home run by Roller.

The Bulldogs' final run came in the top of the ninth as Salazar doubled, moved to third on a ground out by Beau Orlando and scored on a defensive interference.

"It's always nice to get a win when you don't play very well, and today I didn't feel that our team really played well," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "We didn't pitch the ball extremely well. We walked the opponent 10 times and hit them once. The good news is, we did strike them out 14 times and we did make enough plays defensively. Thankfully, Roller and Callil had really good days at the plate, came up big for us and drove in the runs to help us win. Josh Breaux was very good coming in from the bullpen. Our bullpen was pretty good for the most part."

"The thing we've got to overcome is we've got to pitch the ball better and not get behind in counts. When we do that, I think our team will really take off and keep making good strides forward. But like I say, a win is a win and to not play well and win is a good sign. We will get back after them tomorrow and hopefully play a little bit better and come away with a couple more Ws," Thompson said.

The Highlanders defeated the Bulldogs 5-4 in game one Saturday with Nathan Gonzales getting the win and Chandler Cannon getting the save.

McLennan's Cole Haring hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second to begin the scoring.

The Highlanders added two runs in the third. Mario Vela was safe at first on a Navarro error and Chris Roller doubled. Both runners scored on a single by Brendan Venter.

The Bulldogs tied the game with three runs in the fourth. Francisco De'Jesus led off with a double and Robert Salazar singled. Josh Ragan singled to score De'Jesus and Colin Chaney walked. Braden Williams then singled to score Salazar.

McLennan took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jackson Nichols singled, stole second, moved to third on a Navarro error and scored on another Bulldog error that put Joe Breaux on first.

Salazar hit a solo home run for Navarro in the fifth to round out the scoring.

The Highlanders needed an extra inning to defeat the Bulldogs 4-3 in the nightcap with Hunter Spaeth getting the win.

McLennan scored one run in the third as Keaton Milford walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Roller.

The Highlanders added a run in the fourth as Josh Breaux singled, moved to second on a single by Griffin Paxton, advanced to third on a fielder's choice by Griffin Williams and scored on a sacrifice by Nick Thornquist.

Navarro took the lead with three runs in the fifth. Beau Orlando singled and Matt Wood drew a walk. Orlando moved to third on an error by the Highlanders' catcher. Munoz singled to score and Orlando and Wood scored on a ground out by Tim Bechtold. Munoz then scored on a single by Derek Mueller.

McLennan tied the game with Venter's solo home run in the sixth.

The winning run came in the bottom of the eighth inning as Roller singled, moved to second on a single by Venter, advanced to third on a sacrifice by Josh Breaux and scored on a single by Haring.

"It's a great day at the ballpark to win two, one-run games and to finish the last one with a walk-off win is just an exciting way to do it," head coach Mitch Thompson said. "It's the third walk-off win of the season and all three of them are at home. We are 4-0 right now at home in one-run games. We are playing good people and we are going to be tested, but we are getting out of it what we want. We are playing a lot of guys. One of the things that's exciting is that in the three-game series against Navarro, we started 16 different position players in the lineup, so we are giving lots of guys opportunities and they are stepping up and competing well for us."

"Today in the doubleheader sweep, we had 11 2/3 innings thrown by freshmen arms and only 3 1/3 thrown by sophomore arms. We are playing the 17th-ranked team in the country and we come away with two wins. There are a lot of exciting things that are happening, and I hope folks will come out and see us play because I think they will really like what they are seeing." 

"Our offense swung the bats pretty good and we played really well defensively. There were some unbelievable defensive plays made, but I was really excited about our bullpen. Gonzales and Cannon were good in game one, and Jason Blanchard and Spaeth came in and threw really well in game two out of the bullpen as well."

"We have a lot to be thankful for and we are very excited. It doesn't get any easier for us. Next up is four games next weekend down at the San Jacinto Tournament of Champions. We will play Baton Rouge, Midland, Alvin and Northwest Florida State – a rematch of our 2015 national championship game. It will be a lot of fun, and we will be working hard to get ready for it," Thompson said.

McLennan 5, Navarro 3
McLennan 002 000 030 – 5 9 1
Navarro 002 000 001 – 3 5 0
Bailey Horn, Kyrell Miller (5), Connor Heffron (8), Palmer Wenzel (8), Joshua Breaux (9) and Nic Motley. Tate Gillespie, Brandon Ivey (6) and Braden Williams. WP: Miller; LP: Ivey; SV: Josh Breaux. Leading hitters – McLennan: Chris Roller (2-4, 3B, HR, 4 RBI) and George Callil (3-3, 2B, RBI); Navarro: Robert Salazar (2-5, 2B, RBI) and Matt Munoz (0-5, RBI). Record: McLennan 5-0.

McLennan 5, Navarro 4
Navarro 000 310 0 – 4 7 4
McLennan 012 200 x – 5 4 1
Ivan Ulloa, Eric Sandoz (3), Dalton Blake (5), Asher Cook (6) and Braden Williams. Jase Embry, Nathan Gonzales (4), Chandler Cannon (7) and Jackson Nichols. WP: Gonzales; LP: Sandoz; SV: Cannon. Leading hitters – Navarro: Francisco De'Jesus (1-3, 2B), Robert Salazar (3-4, HR, RBI) and Braden Williams (1-3, RBI); McLennan: Mario Vela (1-3, HR, RBI), Chris Roller (1-3, 2B), Brendan Venter (1-3, 2 RBI), Cole Haring (1-3, HR, RBI) and Joe Breaux (0-2, RBI). Record: McLennan 6-0.

McLennan 4, Navarro 3
Navarro 000 030 00 – 3 5 0
McLennan 001 101 01 – 4 9 1
Gary Watkins, Brady Mehl (6), Mark Geisel (6) and Beau Orlando. Logan Freeman, Jason Blanchard (5), Hunter Spaeth (8) and Nick Thornquist. WP: Spaeth; LP: Geisel. Leading hitters – Navarro: Matt Munoz (1-4, RBI), Colin Chaney (1-3, 2B), Tim Bechtold (0-3, RBI) and Derek Mueller (1-2, RBI); McLennan: Chris Roller (2-4, RBI), Brendan Venter (2-4, HR, RBI0, Griffin Paxton (2-3, 2B), Nick Thornquist (0-2, RBI) and Cole Haring (1-1, RBI). Record: McLennan 7-0.