Highlands goes 1-2 at Lawrence County

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds baseball team started the season 1-2 with three games at Lawrence County on Saturday.

Highlands opened the season with a 3-2 loss in extra innings to the host Bulldogs. Jake Heck (0-1) took the loss for the Bluebirds.

Jake Whitford and Jake Lester turned in multi-hit games for Highlands. They both finished 2-for-3 at the plate.

Brandon Stevens picked up the win for Lawrence County. Ryan Kingsmore led the Bulldogs at the plate going 3-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Teammate Adam Cavins followed going 2-for-3 with a walk.

Highlands turned around and beat the Capital Cougars of Charleston, West Virginia, 13-6. Ben Vermeil (1-0) picked up the win for the Bluebirds.

Lester finished 2-for-2 with two walks reaching in all four plate appearances for Highlands. D.J. Mills followed going 2-for-3 with a double, walk and three RBI with Hector Molina going 2-for-4. Colin “Frog” Seidl added two walks, three runs and two stolen bases for Highlands with Quentin Murray and Whitford scoring two runs each. Whitford added two walks and Gabe Schultz had a triple.

Highlands concluded the day with a 3-1 loss to the Prestonsburg Blackcats. Kenny Ball (0-1) took the loss for the Bluebirds.

Highlands returns to action Monday at 5 p.m. The Bluebirds face the Holmes Bulldogs to open 9th Region action.

NewCath baseball drops two in Lexington:

The Thoroughbreds opened their season Saturday with two lopsided losses at Lexington Catholic All-Catholic Tournament.

The host Knights handed the Thoroughbreds a 9-0 defeat to open the season. NewCath recorded just one hit by Josh Cain.

On the other side, the Knights had just four hits but took advantage of seven NewCath walks and two errors. They scored six earned runs.

Connor Bartels took the loss for the Thoroughbreds. He allowed struck out three and allowed just one hit and two earned runs in three innings.

The Thoroughbreds then lost 16-6 to the Trinity Shamrocks. Cain took the loss for NewCath. He pitched three innings allowing just one earned run to go with four walks and one strikeout.

The game actually stayed close until the sixth inning. NewCath trailed just 7-6 entering the fifth when the Shamrocks scored four runs before adding six more in the sixth.

Cain, Mitch Pangallo and Zach Pangallo all had two hits each for the Thoroughbreds. Cain scored twice and had two RBI.

Nolan May recorded the win for Trinity. Justin Howard, Tyler Marshall, Hill Connor, Tyler Hunt, Bobby Graven and Brady Pfaadt had two hits each for the Shamrocks. The outhit the Thoroughbreds, 15-9.

NewCath plays host to Woodford County on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Freedom Park.