Bulldogs crack Shells, slip by Cougars

The Highland baseball Bulldogs officially began their defense of their Class 3A state championship after rolling to two impressive first wins of the season.

First, on Friday at Glik Park, Highland cracked the visiting Roxana Shells early with a six-run third inning en route to posting an easy 9-1 victory for its first win of the season. Next, on Monday, the Bulldogs used Coach Joel Hawkins’ patented “small-ball” tactics to pull out a 2-1 road win over a good Breese Central team that is currently ranked first in the Bellevlle News-Democrat Small-School Baseball Rankings.

The back-to-back wins lifted Highland’s record to 2-1. The Bulldogs, who hosted Salem on Tuesday, will travel to GCS Ballpark in Sauget to take on Granite City on Monday to start a busy week of games. Highland is slated to host three games in three days: Mater Dei on Tuesday, Wesclin on Wednesday and Teutopolis next Thursday.

Highland 2, Brese Central 1

Central High baseball coach Kevin Crask warned his team it was coming and the Cougars were still powerless to stop it.

Defending Class 3A state champion Highland used its trademark “small-ball” approach with a two-run rally in the sixth inning Monday that included bunts, steals and timely hitting in a 2-1 victory over Central.

“With Highland, sooner or later, one inning they will find a way to small-ball you to death,” said Crask, whose team carried a 1-0 lead into the top of the sixth thanks to the shutdown pitching of senior Mitchel Rule.

It was a typical Highland win that saw the scrappy Bulldogs (2-1) start the sixth inning with a bunt by Brock Troxell as he just beat the throw to first base. Troxell was bunted to second by senior Mike McGill, then stole third and eventually scored the tying run when fellow senior Jordan Smith dumped a RBI single over the shortstop’s head into shallow left field.

Smith swiped second base on the throw to the plate and the Bulldogs pushed across the winning run when Chris Dickman’s single was bobbled a bit by the left fielder.

“The at-bats didn’t really come together until the end, but we pulled it together like we always do,” Smith said. “It starts with our fast leadoff guys. Our job’s to drive them in. They get all the way to third and we just knock them in.”

Highland (2-1) is fourth in the News-Democrat Large-School Baseball Rankings, while Central (4-2) is ranked first among the small schools.

Crask wasn’t overly happy with the call at first or the execution on the bunt, which was fielded by Rule.

“I thought the ball beat him, but the fact was we need to make that play cleaner and faster. We’ve got to get the outs,” Crask said. “Kudos to Coach Hawkins and Coach (Sam) Weber, because they coach these guys well. The ability for them to be able to play small-ball and move runners over, and do it consistently and cleanly, they’re going to put pressure on you.

“I’m very happy with the way our kids reacted to that, especially as young as we are.”

Highland senior pitchers Matt Beyer and Sam Greene allowed five hits and one run, and Hawkins was overjoyed to go the entire day without his team issuing a walk.

Central got a leadoff single from Jack Strieker in the fifth, and he scored on an RBI double by sophomore catcher Matt Walters. Beyer left after allowing Strieker’s hit. Greene (1-1) worked his way into trouble but quickly out of it to escape without further damage.

Rule was outstanding Monday, after allowing seven hits and nine runs in just 2

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innings in his first start against Salem. He limited Highland to three hits in five scoreless innings before the sixth, when he allowed four hits.

“When we’re swinging like that right there, and we’re running into somebody that’s doing that to us, then we’ve got to find a way to manufacture,” said Hawkins, whose assembly line of bunts, steals and speed on the basepaths came through once again.

Rule allowed seven hits and struck out four, including two of the three batters he faced in the top of the seventh.

“It’s good to have Mitchel back,” Crask said. “That first game Mitchel threw against Salem was just kind of that off day where everything wasn’t going right. I think he’s going to be really successful as long as he can maintain his ability to do what he did today.”

Central threatened to put the tying run on the seventh, but Dickman, Highland’s right fielder, made a diving catch to rob Jayce Timmermann of at least a double. Walters singled to keep the inning alive, but Jensen Lake grounded into a force play at second.

“What’s frustrating is our approach at the plate was less than adequate today,” Crask said, citing an ability to be more patient and make adjustments depending on the count.

He believes his team is capable of a lot this season, including a long playoff run.

“I told the kids: ‘You guys made the goal. You guys are the ones that wanted to follow in the basketball (team’s) footsteps,’ ” Crask said, referring to Central’s third-place finish at state. “Our pitching is deep enough. Our defense is deep enough. The hitting today was kind of disappointing, but with what we’ve been able to accomplish so far this year, these kids still need to realize how good they are.”

Highland 9, Roxana 1

The Bulldogs took complete control of the game early by following up a two-spot in their first at-bat with a six-run outburst in the third.

Highland finished its scoring with a single tally in the sixth to go on top 9-0 before the Shells got their lone run in the top of the seventh.

For the game, the Bulldogs recorded eight hits — all singles — by eight different players. Highland also took advantage of four walks, five stolen bases and four Roxana errors.

Getting one hit apiece for Highland were Dickman, McGill, sophomore Brock Troxell, senior Griffin Welz, senior Austin Brown, senior Tyler Pollard, senior Will Greenwald and senior Trent Carriger.

Troxell reached base three times in four trips to the plate. He singled, walked twice, stole two bases and came around to score all three times.

McGill and Welz each drove in two runs, stole one base and scored once, and Brown knocked in one run.

In addition, Dickman drew one walk and scored once, while Greenwald (one stolen base), Pollard and Smith each scored once and Smith also added one RBI.

Roxana had no answer for sophomore lefty Connor Pinsker, who held Roxana scoreless for the first 3  1/3 innings on just two hits and one walk while striking out three.

Pinsker was backed by four relievers. First up was senior Matt Beyer, who took the ball from Pinsker and registered the final two outs in the fourth frame. He struck out the first batter he faced to record the second out. Then Brown, the catcher, got the final out of the inning on a caught stealing at second base.

Dickman pitched a scoreless fifth, with one hit and one strikeout, while McGill tossed a scoreless sixth, with one base on balls and one strikeout.

Welz was touched for the only run in the seventh. He allowed back-to-back hits to open the frame on a double from Jacob Maguire, followed by an RBI single to Zach Golenor, before settling in and striking out the side to end the game.

Roxana starter Sam Mosby was the game’s losing pitcher. He was tagged for eight runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks in just three innings on the bump.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 4:45 AM with the headline "Bulldogs crack Shells, slip by Cougars."