Highlands run-rules streak to six straight vs. rival NCC

Photo: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands senior pitcher Ricky Raisor (4-3 overall) threw a one-hit shutout against the rival Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds on Friday.

SILVER GROVE - The White and Blue did manage nine hits in the annual tilt against the rivals on The Hill.

Combine that with 10 walks, five Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbred wild pitches, two passed balls, nine stolen bases and a solid outing from senior pitcher Ricky Raisor and it added up to a 10-0 five-inning run ruling for the Highlands Bluebirds baseball team (14-12 overall). The Bluebirds took a step closer to another top seed in the 36th District Tournament to be played at Dayton in a few weeks.

Highlands moved to 3-0 in district play with its sixth straight win over the Thoroughbreds in its first on-field district game this year. Dayton and Newport forfeited district games to Highlands. The Bluebirds need just to beat Bellevue to finish undefeated in district seed action. Highlands has won four straight district tournament championships.

"I told the guys I thought they had a great game plan," said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. "We try to take advantage wherever we can get an advantage to put pressure on (opponents). It worked out for us."

Raisor (4-3) threw the one-hit shutout. He struck out four and walked just one. Both teams committed two errors defensively.

NewCath did manage to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth. But Raisor pitched out of it to force the run-ruling.

"When you have a guy like Ricky on the mound, that takes the pressure off fielders," Baioni said. "It seemed like the innings went by so fast that we never got into a rhythm defensively. But we still made plays when we needed them. That was the main thing."

Highlands scored four runs in the top of the first inning for the only runs it needed to win the game. The Bluebirds scored six more in the fifth to go up 10-0. Trent Casebolt finished the scoring with a two-run double.

Highlands saw two players record two hits in Kyle Rust and Sam Hennigan. Rust scored twice and Hennigan had two runs batted in and scored once.

"We wait for opponents to throw strikes," Rust said. "We like to wait for fastballs and lay off the junk. Fastballs are solid pitches to hit. That leads to higher on-base percentages."

Four players had two stolen bases each for Highlands. They were Rust, Trey Bowden, Conner Kreeger and Ethan Doty. Hennigan had the other. Doty walked three times and Bowden reached twice on bases on balls.

Highlands plays twice at Lexington Catholic on Saturday. The Bluebirds face the host Knights at 11 a.m. before taking on Louisville Trinity at 1:30 p.m.

Softball:
East Jessamine 12, Highlands 1:

The Ladybirds (16-7 overall) saw their 10-game winning streak snapped at the hand of the host Lady Jaguars on Friday.

Haley Coffey returned from injury in this game. The senior shortstop doubled in the top of the first inning.

Highlands takes on Owensboro Apollo on Saturday to continue Round Robin action at the East Jessamine Tournament. Game time is 9 a.m.

Baseball Box Score:

HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL (10) AT NEWPORT CATHOLIC (0)

HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOO AB  R  H BI  NEWPORT CATHOLIC     AB  R  H BI
Kyle Rust             3  2  2  0  Brian Wells           2  0  0  0  
Trey Bowden           2  2  1  0  Drew                  3  0  0  0  
Conner Kreeger        3  1  1  1  Spencer Pangallo      2  0  0  0  
Mark Walkenhorst      2  1  1  1  Griffin McHugh        2  0  0  0  
 Hunter Henschen      1  0  0  0  Smith                 2  0  0  0  
Ethan Doty            1  2  1  0  Josh Schneider        2  0  0  0  
Drew Rom              2  0  0  0  Ludwig                2  0  1  0  
 Austin Mayhew        2  0  0  0  Ryan Haus             1  0  0  0  
Sam Hennigan          2  1  2  2  Chris Romito          2  0  0  0  
 Tyler Schwalbach     1  0  0  0                                    
Brady Gosney          1  1  0  0                                    
Brad Greene           2  0  0  0                                    
 Trent Casebolt       1  0  1  2                                    
TOTALS               23 10  9  6  TOTALS               18  0  1  0

HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL         400 600 -- 10 
NEWPORT CATHOLIC              000 00x -- 0  

LOB--HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL 9, NEWPORT CATHOLIC 5.
ERR--Austin Mayhew, Brady Gosney, Griffin McHugh, 
Halderman. 2B--Trent Casebolt. HBP--Brady Gosney, Brian
Wells. SB--Kyle Rust (2), Trey Bowden (2), Conner Kreeger
(2), Ethan Doty (2), Sam Hennigan.

 HIGHLANDS HIGH SCHOOL           IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Ricky Raisor (W)               5.00    1    0    0    1    4    0
 NEWPORT CATHOLIC           
Iles (L)                       3.33    8    8    8    7    4    0
Halderman                      0.67    1    2    2    1    0    0
Spencer Pangallo               1.00    0    0    0    2    1    0

WP-- Halderman (2),  Iles (3). BALK--Spencer Pangallo, 
Halderman. SO--Tyler Schwalbach, Drew Rom, Brad Greene,
Conner Kreeger, Brady Gosney, Spencer Pangallo, Griffin
McHugh, Ryan Haus, Drew. BB--Kyle Rust, Trey Bowden (2),
Conner Kreeger, Ethan Doty (3), Mark Walkenhorst, Sam
Hennigan, Brady Gosney, Ryan Haus.