With a playoff win on the line, Higley rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They blew past the Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions 10-1. Considering the Knights' hitters had been struggling lately, the high-scoring outing was a much-needed turnaround.
Ryan Birch tossed a big game, pitching 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. He has been consistent: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Nate Kimmel was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Ty Henze, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs.
Higley has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine games. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-11 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Mountain Ridge, their loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 14-14.
Coming up, Higley will square off against Hamilton on Thursday. The Knights' pitchers better be ready for this one: the Huskies have averaged an impressive 7.5 runs per game this season. Mountain Ridge does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
