SCOTS STORM BACK
Host Highland recovers from five-run deficit, rallies for 9-8 win over Templeton
Through two-and-ahalf innings Wednesday evening at Highland, the Scots found themselves in an unfamiliar position: way behind.
Highland, a No. 3 seed in Division III of the CIF Central Section playoffs, hadn’t lost a game since March 18 against Centennial, finishing 14-0 in Southeast Yosemite League play with 10 double-digit wins.
Yet suddenly the Scots trailed 6-1 to No. 14 Templeton, which had gone 4-11 in its own conference.
Maddie George had lofted a first-inning tworun home run just over the “2021 Valley Champions” sign in left-center field, then added an RBI single and scored on a wild pitch in the third before Alex Dahlen drove in two more runs to boost the Eagles’ lead.
But the lead didn’t last. Highland figured out pitcher Alyssa Moore in the bottom of the third for a five-run inning featuring four straight scoring plays.
Chloe Garcia had the eventual go-ahead hit on a softly hit single that dribbled into center field in the fourth.
Lucia Jano locked down the Eagles’ lineup late to help Highland take the win, 8-7.
“Our girls’ strengths are adjusting to different pitchers,” Highland coach Jorge Moreno said. “Our league, for lack of a better term, didn’t prepare us for this level of play, so we knew it was going to take an inning or two for our girls to adjust.
“But once they did, they go back to their natural habits, which is doing the fundamentals right.”
Dahlen had three singles for Templeton with two RBIs. George drove in three runs, and her early home run went down as the Eagles’ only extra-base hit Wednesday.
After Highland rallied, Moore helped her own cause with a single to drive in Izzy Cowne in the fourth, briefly restoring Templeton’s lead at 7-6, but Nela Smith was unable to contain the Scots.
The catcher Garcia was 2-for-2 with a walk and three RBIs, including a two-run single that gave Highland its first lead at 8-7.
Emily Moreno (2-for-2, two RBIs) supplied the Scots’ first run in the second inning, on a single up the middle, then tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the third. Natalie Macias was also 2-for-2.
Briana Solis had trouble on the mound early for Highland but finished as the only Scot with three hits.
Jano entered for Solis early in the third inning. She too had her struggles initially but settled in, and despite allowing four hits in the final three innings, she preserved the 8-7 lead, aided by key double plays from her defense.
“Lucia’s a very special young lady, both in the classroom and on the field,” Moreno said, “and we knew that she had the thing that we were missing at that moment.”
Last season, Highland won Central Section Division V and SoCal Regional Division IV titles. Wednesday was the first step in their adaptation to Division III, a process they’ll hope to continue Friday in the quarterfinals.
“That makes a big difference for them to believe that we belong here,” Moreno said, “(that) this is the right division for us.”
The Scots will host Garces, which rallied to beat Dinuba Wednesday night.