Highlands Baseball Goes 1-1 to Conclude Hot Rods Classic

Cramer Pitches Shutout Against Greenwood

Twitter Photo. The Highlands Bluebirds come into the dugout after retiring the side in the fifth inning against Greenwood.

Highlands finished 2-1 in the Hot Rods Classic at Bowling Green Park going 1-1 to move to 3-1 on the season.

The Bluebirds started the day with a 2-0 win over the Greenwood Gators (1-3). Highlands senior Grady Cramer (1-0) pitched a complete game shutout. Cramer stuck out 11 and allowed four hits and one walk.

"We did exactly what we needed to do defensively," Cramer said. "We threw strikes and challenged every hitter. There are a lot of strikeouts, which is great, but my teammates played exactly how we needed them to (do so) to win."

Highlands scored the game's only two runs in the sixth inning. The Bluebirds had two singles from juniors Ethan Kavanagh and Mason Schwalbach to start the inning. They moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. Greenwood then walked senior Cooper Schwalbach to load the bases with one out. Senior Trey Gabbard singled them home against a drawn-in infield.

Highlands went 6-for-26 for a .231 batting clip. Cooper Schwalbach went 2-for-2 to lead the Bluebirds.

The Bluebirds then dropped the second game of the day against the 4-2 Grayson County Cougars, 6-4. Highlands fell behind 5-0 before chipping away and falling short.

Senior Trent Johnson had an RBI single in the top of the third to plate the first Highlands run and cut the lead to 5-1.

Mason Schwalbach tripled home a run in the top of the fifth for Highlands. Brother Cooper then singled him in to trim the margin to 5-3.

Highlands went 7-for-28 for a .250 clip for the game. Mason Schwalbach went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored. Junior Nate Gesenhues went 2-for-2 with three runs scored. Cooper Schwalbach also went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Highlands plays host to Boone County (2-2) on Monday. Game time is 5 p.m.