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Highland gets up early in win
Updated: May 16, 2011 10:05PM
HIGHLAND — Highland rebounded from last week’s disappointing loss to Andrean with an easy 15-2 win over Kankakee Valley. And the Trojans used the same jump-on-‘em early tactics against the Kougars that the 59ers had used on them.
Kankakee Valley’s Tyler Simmons brought an unblemished 4-0 record into the contest, but that didn’t faze Highland as the Trojans put up six runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Highland sent eleven batters to the plate in the inning, five of whom delivered base hits. The Trojans also benefitted from a pair of walks and a couple of Kougar errors in staking themselves to a 6-0 lead.
“We got ahead and it’s a little easier that way,” said Highland coach Dan Miller. “It was just solid hitting. A single here, a walk there.”
The inning also generated a bit of controversy as the Trojans failed to report a late lineup change to Kankakee Valley. Kougar coach Doug Greenlee took up the issue with the umpiring crew, but the discussion was apparently not to his satisfaction. A frustrated Greenlee responded with his own unreported lineup change and a series of long discussions with the umpires resulted. Greenlee also used six different pitchers over the course of the first 3.1 innings, including Mike Tilley, who threw exactly one pitch, a strike, before being lifted.
“We pitched some kids who I’ve never seen pitch before,” said Greenlee. “We just had eight games in eight days, including a 10-inning game down in Jasper and we’re just plain tired.”
Highland (17-5, 9-2) sent eleven batters to the plate again in the third inning, this time scoring five runs. Four more walks and another couple of errors fueled the inning for the Trojans. Kankakee Valley (16-10, 5-7) responded in the top of the fourth inning with their only runs of the contest on Kevin Cooper’s two-run single.
Keith Mahler (7-0) went the distance for Highland, giving up just the two runs on four hits while striking out six. Mahler also delivered a two-run double in the fourth inning that secured the ten-run margin needed to end the game after five innings. Jordan Minch and Mike Gamaleri each contributed two hits, a walk and two runs scored to the Highland effort.
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