Highland is 0-8 against St. Pius X since March of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Highland Hornets will be playing at home against the St. Pius X Sartans at 4:00 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Highland took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Valencia and snuck past 5-4.
Eric Tennison was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed seven innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off eight hits. Tennison was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Miguel Leyba, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, and a double. Xaiver Platero was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, in what's become a running theme this season, St. Pius X gave their fans yet another huge victory on Friday. Everything went their way against Valencia as St. Pius X made off with a 17-3 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for St. Pius X considering their one-run performance the match before.
Ruben Jepson was a standout: he went 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, five RBI, and three runs. Another player making a difference was Ben Martinez, who went 3-for-4 with three runs, three RBI, and a triple.
Highland's victory ended an eight-game drought at home dating back to last season and bumped them up to 2-19. As for St. Pius X, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-8 record this season.
Highland might still be hurting after the 12-2 loss they got from St. Pius X in their previous meeting back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of St. Pius X's Nick Rodriguez, who struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Now that Highland knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
