Highlands downs HC, loses to Beechwood

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands pitches Mitch Jones (2) sets up for a pitch in Saturday's game against Covington Holy Cross while center fielder Hector Molina (10) watches. Jones struck out three in the 9-5 Highlands win and Molina went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs batted in and two runs scored.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds baseball team came through with clutch hits in one game and not the other Saturday at Highland Park.

That resulted in a 2-1 loss to the Beechwood Tigers followed by a 9-5 victory over the Covington Holy Cross Indians. The Bluebirds are 3-3 on the season.

Highlands received 23 at-bats in both games. The Bluebirds recorded four hits in the loss to Beechwood for a team batting average of .174 but came back to record eight hits against Holy Cross for a .348 clip.

“We hit the ball in the air too much in the first game,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands head coach. “We want to focus on hitting line drives and up the middle. We did a better job of that in the second game. We hit more balls on the barrel (of the bat), which is what we preach.”

Highlands leadoff hitter Hector Molina continued his amazing start to the season recording two hits in both games. He had half the Bluebird hits in the first game and scored two runs and had two runs batted in against the Indians going 4-for-7 in both games.

“I just swing hard and do my best to get on base,” Molina said. “We just have to hit the fastballs. We have a pretty good offensive team.”

Evan Allen and Quentin Murray added two hits and two RBI each against the Indians. Molina and Allen also scored twice.

The Bluebirds had their chances in the first game. They put runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but could not score against Beechwood winning pitcher Jason Suchanek.

In the fourth, Gabe Schultz reached on an error before moving to second on a D.J. Mills single. Schultz then moved to third when Jake Whitford reached first on a fielder’s choice forcing Mills out at second. Suchanek then got Luke Henigan to ground out at second to end the threat.

Evan Allen then reached on an error to start the fifth inning and Jake Lester bunted him to second. But Suchanek coxed Molina into flying out to left and Colin “Frog” Seidl into grounding out in front of the plate.

The Bluebirds scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth. Schultz singled and stole second before he scored when Mills reached on an error.

Schultz took the loss for Highlands. He struck out two before Joey Martin relieved him in the third and finished the game striking out four.

Things started off bleak for Highlands in the second game. Holy Cross jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Bluebirds scored five in the third sending 10 batters to the plate.

Molina walked then reached second and third on two wild pitches before Murray walked and stole second. That’s when Whitford grounded out to score Molina. Murray then scored on a wild pitch.

After Schultz scored on a Joseph Martin single, Trevor Kincaide relieved starting pitcher Blake Tiberi on the mound. Allen hit Kincaide’s first pitch over the right field wall for a two-run home run.

“I knew he wanted to get settled in so he was going to start off with a fastball,” Allen said. “I was sitting on it. I put it on the barrel to see what happened.”

Holy Cross did come back to tie the game in the fifth. But Highlands went ahead for good in the bottom of the inning. Molina singled in Mitch Guesenhues and Allen before Murray doubled home Jac Collinsworth and Molina.

“(Tiberi) throws the ball really hard,” Baioni said. “We don’t need to take hard swings. They need to be short and compact and our guys did that. Our guys were able to catch up to him.”

Mitch Jones picked up the win for Highlands pitching five innings. He struck out three before Jake Liggett threw two shutout innings in relief striking out three.

Kincaide took the loss for the Indians. Tiberi, a Louisville commit, led Holy Cross going 2-for-4 at the plate.

The Bluebirds return to action Wednesday. They travel to Campbell County for a 5 p.m. contest.