Highland 16U Bulldogs hold off late rally from Jerseyville to earn DH split

The Highland 16U Bulldogs and Jerseyville squared off in a marathon doubleheader Monday night at Glik Park in Highland.

And after almost 5 1/2 hours of baseball, Highland was forced to settle for a doubleheader split as Jerseyville took the first game 9-4, while the Bulldogs held on for an 11-8 win in the nightcap Monday night.

“In the first game our defense definitely was not as strong as it usually is and we came out and made a few errors behind our pitcher and it kind of bit us in the rear end,” said Highland manager Jed Eggering, whose team was rained out against Jerseyville the week prior. “But we were able to pull it together in the second game.”

In the opener, Jerseyville touched Highland starter Tyler Griesbaum for four runs in the first inning and added three more in the second to go up 7-0. Griesbaum was relieved by Hudson Wiegman, who pitched the second, third and fourth frames.

Fellow reliever Steven Jack threw the final 2 2/3 innings.

Highland got back into the game with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fifth as Luke Darling doubled in a run but was out at third trying to stretch it into a triple. Will Trame later delivered a bases-clearing double, shaving the lead to 7-4.

Jerseyville tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth and the Bulldogs bats went silent in their last two at bats.

Highland got the bats going early in game two.

Mason Barnes started on the mound for Highland and set the tone, setting Jerseyville down in order in the top of the first. The Bulldogs promptly jumped on Jerseyville for four runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Wiegman had the big hit of the inning as he doubled home two runs.

“The first inning, we had a lot of walks and guys were working counts and pretty much everybody contributed that game and seemed to be hitting the ball well,” Eggering said.

Jerseyville scored three runs in the top of the fourth, cutting the Bulldogs lead to 8-3. Highland began to pull away in the late innings, scoring a run in the fourth, fifth, and sixth to stretch the margin to 11-3.

Bulldogs survive late rally

In the top of the seventh, Jerseyville made one more final charge, scoring five runs off untimely defensive lapses.

“In the top of the seventh, Mason (Barnes) was still throwing and a few calls didn’t go our way but some of those were bang-bang (plays) and then a few errors (in the seventh) ended up costing us some runs,” Eggering said.

Barnes pitched five innings and Trame finished up the final two innings and pitched out of trouble in the seventh to preserve the win.

Highland moved to 8-7-1 with the twin-bill split.

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 11:27 PM.