Highland 18U Bulldogs wrap up 2020 season at Alton Wood Bat Tournament

The final weekend of the 2020 summer baseball season begat a mixed bag of results for the Highland 18U summer baseball team.

However, after a loss and a tie, a win over Alton on Sunday in the final game of the Alton Wood Bat Tournament was a nice way for the Bulldogs to finish out the campaign.

Highland finished out the two-day round-robin affair with a 1-1-1 slate losing to Belleville 9-1 and tying Troy 2-2 on Saturday before ending the tournament and the season on a strong note with a 6-1 win over host Alton at Gordon Moore Park.

“Since it was a wood bat tournament — and obviously, wood is harder to with and with how good the pitching was — I imagine the boys were a little bit frustrated,” Highland manager Kyle Schmitt said. “Also, it was really hot but I felt they came ready to play (Sunday) which could have been a challenge after how the games tuned out yesterday (Saturday).”

On Saturday, the Bulldogs opened the tournament against Belleville, and behind a good start early from Kolby Frey, the game was scoreless for three innings.

Highland got a run in the top of the fourth when Jack Korte scored but in the bottom of the fourth, Belleville turned the tables on Frey and Highland, scoring nine runs.

“We got that one run in the fourth and we were up 1-0 and I felt confident with Kolby Frey on the mound and he was pitching well,” Schmitt said. “Then the bottom of the fourth hit and we couldn’t make a (defensive) play and weren’t communicating on bunts and it was a rough fourth inning.”

The Bulldogs offense was tamed by Belleville starter Brant Bowen, who went seven innings and allowed just three Highland hits.

“We only had three hits, so you have to give it to that pitcher (Bowen), he had his stuff working,” Schmitt said.

Highland then faced Troy, which the Bulldogs defeated just three days prior. However, Highland had a much tougher time this go around, as Troy ace Devin Watts kept the Bulldogs bats in check for eight innings.

“Troy had their ace on the mound and they saved their best guy for us and he was pretty good and it was a pretty good performance by him (Watts),” Schmitt said.

Highland broke on top 1-0 in the top of the fourth when Korte walked, stole second and then scored on a single from Chase Wilson.

Troy came back with a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie it 1-1.

In the top of fifth, the Bulldogs took the lead when Frey scored from second on an RBI-double by Chad Barker for a 2-1 lead.

Troy tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and almost got the go-ahead run with two outs but Watts, coming home on a wild pitch with two outs, was tagged and called out at the plate.

“They almost literally stole that game from us, so that was a big play,” Schmitt said.

Neither team scored in the seventh or eighth innings as the game finished after eight frames as a tie due to time constraints.

Lefthander JD Barnes pitched a strong seven innings for Highland, giving up just two runs.

Highland takes down Alton

On Sunday, the Bulldogs finished the tournament and the regular season on a high note as they clubbed an always tough Alton squad 6-1.

The win over Alton allowed Highland to the finish the season 3-3 in six games against Post 126 this season.

“We played them six times and we went 3-3 against them ... they’re a good team and I feel we’re a good team and we’re just evenly matched and usually when we play them it’s fun,” Schmitt said.

Highland scored a run in the top of the first when Wilson walked with two outs and went to second one a passed ball. Carter Wiegman singled Wilson home to make it 1-0. Alton scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie it 1-1.

Fifth inning proves decisive

Highland took control with three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Werner walked to start the inning and stole second and third and then came home to score on Wiegman’s hard hit grounder to short that was booted for an error.

Frey singled off the third baseman putting runners at first and third before Logan Doll and Barnes followed with RBI singles, pushing the lead to 4-1.

In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs added a pair of insurance runs with a two-run single by Wiegman, who had three RBI in his final baseball game as a Bulldog.

“As far as final games for his senior weekend, Carter drove in most of our runs,” Schmitt said. “He had a big game.”

Werner sharp on the bump

Werner took care of the pitching duties for the Bulldogs. In his final Highland start, Werner went seven innings, gave up just one run, threw 105 pitches and got the complete game win.

“He pitched a great game and he got key outs when we needed them and they made plays behind him and he just looked really sharp,” Schmitt said. “It was his last game and he threw 105 pitches and honestly he didn’t want to come out because it was his last game ever and he wanted to finish it off.”

Highland finished the 2020 summer season at 17-8-1 overall.

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 3:39 PM.