Walker, Ramsey power Highland to easy victory against Granite City at GCS Stadium
John Walker and Brayden Ramsey’s bats got the Highland baseball team going early, and then Greyson Habing’s lumber put the icing on the cake late.
Walker ripped a two-run single in the second, Ramsey singled home a run in the third, and Habing slapped a three-run inside the park homer in the seventh as the Bulldogs rolled to a 9-1 nonconference victory against Granite City at GCS Ballpark in Sauget on Tuesday, May 18.
Highland (15-11) banged out eight hits against Granite City pitchers Owen McMichael and Zach Smith. The Bulldogs, who have won three of their last four games, have heated up offensively with 22 runs scored in the past three games.
“We had a couple of great hits early. John had one of them and Brayden had one of them. We’ve been really struggling with that runner at third and less than two situations and we ran the bases a lot more aggressively tonight and that’s what we want to do,” Highland coach Joel Hawkins said.
Playing as the visiting team, HHS plated a run in the top of the first as Blaine Kapp reached on a hit by pitch and then scored on a fielder’s choice grounder that put Clayton Mallard on at first.
In the top of the second, it was Walker’s turn to step up with a big hit. With two out and runners at first and third, the Bulldogs catcher sliced a two-run single to left to score two runs for a 3-0 lead.
“I swung through the pitch right before it and I just missed it. I did that a couple of times yesterday and I got a little antsy up there, so I just kind stood back in the box a little bit and kind of waited back on it and sat back on it ... it was a fastball in, and I drove it over the third base bag and tried to keep it fair,” Walker said.
“It feels good to get some runs in just to break the game open because we’ve struggled with that all year. But the last couple of games, we’ve broken the game open early and been able to cruise in the late innings.”
Highland methodically pulls away
In the top of the third, the Bulldogs added a run on Brice Iberg’s sacrifice fly. In the sixth, Ramsey padded the lead with a two-run single to center, making it 6-1.
Granite City (9-12) got its lone run in the bottom of the third on outfielder Mason McMurray’s sacrifice fly to deep centerfield.
Hawkins inserted several reserves in to hit in the top of the seventh and Habing, a junior, made the most of his only at bat. Batting with two on and two out, Habing ripped a shot into the right centerfield gap and circled the bases for the first inside the park homer of his Highland Bulldog career and the final runs of the afternoon.
“Yeah, it felt pretty good (to do that),” Habing said. “I was rounding second looking at coach (Hawkins), and he was waving me to third, and I was like ‘alright a triple.’ Then he was waving me home and I crossed home plate and it felt pretty good. “
Highland hurler tosses solid game
On the bump, Mallard struggled a bit early with his location, but after giving up a run in the third, settled in and pitched well. Walker had a big hand in helping the lefty settle down and throw strikes.
“It’s mental (with him) sometimes, so when he gets in his head, you’ve just got to calm him down. I just told him to aim for my mitt more, and I left my mitt out more as a target for him and he finally settled back in,” Walker said. “Once he got into a rhythm, he got going there and he found his curveball, too, which really helped.”
Mallard went six innings, struck out six, walked three, and allowed just two hits to get the win.
Highland returns to action at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, at Glik park against Mississippi Valley Conference foe Waterloo.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 9:00 AM.