Highland cruises past New London

RIVERSIDE ? It was a promising first inning for the New London baseball team on Saturday night, but a big defensive play and an early run by Highland set the tone for what would be a 7-0 Husky win.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the first inning against Highland starting pitcher Brody Bender, but the Husky infield made a big play to get out of the inning with a double play on a hard-hit ball by Reno Chiri.

?(It was) just a great play,? said Highland head coach Seth Millidge. ?Big, big play by our middle infielders. They put themselves in great positions and they?ve done it all year.?

The twin-killing turned out to be a huge play for the Huskies, as New London?s offense never really picked back up after that.

Highland grabbed a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning, but Chiri kept the Huskies relatively silent throughout the first three innings.

Blake Nehring threatened to tie the game up in the top of the fourth inning when he stole third base with two outs. The Tigers were unable to capitalize, however, and it was Highland?s turn to try to get some separation.

The Huskies broke out the bats in the fourth inning. Trey Lasek hit a two-RBI single with nobody out and Trent Lasek made it 4-0 with an RBI infield single on the next at-bat.

The four-run lead was plenty enough for Highland star Chase Rath, who came in to pitch in the fifth inning. The Husky ace never let the Tigers get in position to make it a close game.

Meanwhile, the Highland offense stayed hot, scoring two more runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth to go up by seven.

Justin Henecke turned a double play on a chopper to third to end the sixth inning, but the Tiger offense couldn?t come through in the seventh.

?We needed to get something out of that (first inning),? New London head coach Brad Helmerson said after the game. ?We kind of had our heads down after that and really just didn?t put much together after that.?

Bender picked up the win for Highland, going four shutout innings and giving up three hits and two walks, while striking out one. Chase Rath threw three hitless innings, giving up two walks and striking out six.

?Brody has been huge all year,? Millidge said about his starter. ?He does a great job on the mound for us and we were confident in him.?

Trey went 2-2 with a team-leading three RBIs, a run and a stolen base in the win. Rath was 2-4 with an RBI and a stolen base. Garret Colbert and Josh Michel each went 2-3.

New London had three hits in the loss. Henecke was 1-2. Nehring went 1-3 with a stolen base and Jayden Flowers finished 1-3.

Chiri was tagged with the loss, going three innings and giving up four earned runs on seven hits while striking out three. Sam Loyd threw three innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk.

The Tigers lose just two seniors, Flowers and Riley Grogan, to graduation this year. Helmerson said he talked to his team about their youth and potential after the loss.

?I asked everybody how many people had been on a 17-8 ballclub, or 17-9 after tonight,? he said. ?Nobody raised their hand. Then I asked how many of them had played in a district championship before and nobody raised their hand. We?ve got to take what we learned from tonight and use that to play at the next level last year.?

Highland will play North Linn, Troy Mills at Solon on Tuesday, July 19, at 7 p.m. A win will give the Huskies a berth in the 1A state tournament.