Highlanders Crush Bloodhounds 10-1

Often it is momentum that dictates success and when, in the top of the first Highlander center fielder Ben Gilbert made a diving catch off a Bloodhound line drive, it set the stage for the rest of the contest.

To add insult to injury #9 Gilbert hit a single in left center and came in to score when eventual Player of the Game #2 Abdiel Flores nailed a pitch over the fence for a homer in virtually the same location as Gilbert's hit and his amazing catch. Flores followed up with a double in the bottom of the sixth for two more runs batted in, and tallied four RBIs total for the game.

The usually tough-to-beat Bloodhounds were sleeping on the job posting goose eggs through the top of the sixth when star player #17 Jakob Runnels, who has signed with UC, powered a home run off the Defensive Player of the Game, #5 Landen Atkins, who pitched five scoreless innings and all told, allowed only four total hits against eleven for the Highlanders.

Besides DH Flores and LHP Atkins other notable standouts were #8 infielder Clay Jacobs who was two for two with a walk, and #27 Beau Worley who smashed a curving triple to right field that brought in two more runs in the bottom of the 6th inning in which the Highlanders capitalized on a Bloodhound relief pitcher for five additional late game assurance runs.

Although Lake Wales, 6-3 overall, is on a 3-game winning streak and that the season is well under way the opposite is true with the meat of the schedule just beginning and boasting just a 1-0 District record. Still a long way to go, but momentum is on our side having won 10-1 against arch rival Auburndale.