Bluebirds Picking Up Play

Doty Strikes out 14 in Highlands Win

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands senior Ethan Doty struck out 14 in the 9th Region win at Beechwood on Wednesday. The Bluebirds have seven shut-outs on the season.

This baseball game showed how important accuracy comes into play.

The two Highlands Bluebirds pitchers in Ethan Doty and Hunter Dreves combined for 14 strikeouts, five walks and just one hit. On the other side, the three Beechwood Tigers pitchers walked 14 Bluebirds, struck out six and allowed four hits.

Highlands posted its second straight shut-out, 6-0 on Wednesday in Fort Mitchell as a result. The Bluebirds (14-8 overall) moved to 8-2 in 9th Region play with their sixth straight win and seventh shut-out of the season. Doty pitched into the seventh inning before Dreves came on to record the final out.

"Velocity makes it tough to hit but more importantly, being able to locate has been the most beneficial thing our pitchers have done the last couple weeks," said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. "Don't get me wrong. We love when our guy throw hard."

Ethan Kavanagh, Joe Steiden and Kyle Rust drew three bases on balls each for Highlands. Kavanagh also went 2-for-3 with a double and three runs batted in. Steiden ended up scoring a team-high two runs.

Highlands did not score its runs until late in the game. The Bluebirds scored three times in the sixth and seventh innings respectively in a rematch of last year's 9th Region championship game.

The Bluebirds travel to Bellevue on Friday. Game time is 5 p.m.

Softball:
Campbell County 11, Highlands 7:

The Ladybirds (6-13-1 overall) lost to the Lady Camels for the second time this year. But Head Coach Rob Coffey said Highlands took another step in the right direction.

Highlands travels to Dayton on Thursday. Game time is 5 p.m.