Baseball Game Preview: Highland Bulldogs vs. Mt. Vernon Rams

The Highland Bulldogs are taking a road trip to take on the Mt. Vernon Rams at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Highland is coming into the match hot, having won their last five games.

On Friday, Highland beat Salem 6-2.

Alex Howard

Batters Struck Out

05/23/25 vs Salem	5
05/09/25 vs Teutopolis	2
05/03/25 vs Collinsville	4
04/24/25 @ Greenville	2
04/09/25 @ Wesclin	0
+ 2 more games

Alex Howard tossed a big game, pitching six innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. What's more, he posted five strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Blake Gelly, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Will Jansen, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.

The scorekeeper got an easy start on Friday as neither Mt. Vernon nor Freeburg made it on the board until the sixth inning. The Rams fell 4-1 to the Midgets. The defeat continues a trend for the Rams in their meetings with the Midgets: they've now lost four in a row.

Owen Burke was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off six hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Mt. Vernon saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Alex Kiefer, who went 1-for-3 with one run.

Highland's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-12. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Mt. Vernon, their loss dropped their record down to 12-18.