Sunday afternoon brought cloudy skies and gloomy weather, but things were bright for the Highland Baseball team as they defeated No. 17 Ranked Fort Scott in both games; 6-5 in 8-innings and 8-6 in 7-innings.
 
GAME ONE:
 
Due to weather, the games were played at Somerset Park, a neutral field in Sabetha, KS. Fort Scott drew first blood as Danny Crews hit a solo homerun in the top of the third giving the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead. Fort Scott added another run in the fourth to add to their lead.
 
Highland tied the game up at 2-2 after Mason Nagle hit a two-run homerun deep over the left field fence. Later that inning, a Tony Nichols RBI single would score Josh Grubaugh from third and give Highland the 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
 
The Hounds re-gained the lead as they scored three runs in the top of the fifth but would hold that lead just briefly. Highland answered right back with RBI's from Brian Taylor and Josh Grubaugh in the bottom of the inning tying the game at 5-5.
 
After giving up a leadoff single in the sixth inning, Jose Acosta was replaced by sophomore closer Stachys McLoud. McLoud would strike out the first batter, walk the second, pick off the runner at second with the help of Mitchell Austin for out number two and strike out the next batter to end the inning.
 
Fort Scott would hold Highland scoreless in the bottom of the sixth and headed into the final inning it was all tied up at 5-5.
 
McLoud gave up two hits putting runners on first and second. A fielder's choice would get the first out at second base, Hounds now with runners on the corners. A pop fly to shallow left field would account for out number three and keep the runners in place. McLoud struck out the next batter for out three and the Hounds stranded two runners in the top of the seventh.
 
Again, the Scotties were unable to get their offense going and the game headed into extra innings.
 
For the third straight inning, McLoud found himself with two For Scott runners on base and for the third straight time, he kept the Hounds scoreless and got out of the inning.
 
Jake Hanson started the bottom of the eight with a leadoff single. Keishon Brown would move Hanson to second with a sacrifice bunt and Tony Nichols moved him to third with a ground ball to second. That would bring to bat the leadoff, Bradey Miller. Miller hit a line drive over the short stop's head scoring Hanson and giving Highland the walk off victory, 6-5 over the Greyhounds.
 
GAME TWO:
 
Game two saw the Greyhounds scoring first with two runs in the second. Again, they didn't hold that lead long as Nagle hit a leadoff double to get things started. Joshua Grubaugh hit an RBI single scoring Nagle. Bradey Miller then hit a three RBI double giving Highland the early 4-2 lead. The inning was finally capped off with a Mitchell Austin RBI single scoring Miller and giving the Scotties the 5-2 lead over the Hounds.
 
The Greyhounds didn't back down as they put up a four-run inning of their own and took back the lead 6-5 in the third.
 
Highland tied the game up at 6-apiece in the fifth inning after Keishon Brown scored Hanson with a sacrifice hit and Mitchell Austin got RBI number two on the game giving Highland the 7-6 lead going into the sixth.
 
Mitchell Austin hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth extending the Highland lead 8-6 going into the final inning.
 
Guess who the Scotties brought in to close the game, Stachys McLoud. McLoud forced two quick outs to start the inning, a ground out to second and a pop up to second. A hit batter and a single would place runners on the corners with two outs and the tying run coming to the plate, a situation McLoud had dealt with all day. He went on to strike out the final batter giving Highland the win 8-6 over the Greyhounds.
 
Highland is now 12-17 on the year, one win over the season total from last year with 25 games remaining. The Scotties will take on non-conference opponent Southeast CC on Tuesday, March 28^th at 2:00pm in Highland, KS.