Chargers Sweep Weekend Vs Lancers
After opening the season with a pair of wins against Florida Panhandle opponents last week, the Chargers split against Cleveland State on Tuesday and welcomed USC Lancaster to Robert Bentley Field this weeked for a four game series.
Despite an uneven start on the defensive side of the ball against the Lancers in game one, GHC brought out the bats. The Chargers scored multiple runs in every inning in the opening game and hit five home runs in a 16-5 victory by mercy rule. Andrew Bishop, Wyatt Gatlin, Caden Marcos, Ian Fullerton, and Harper Davenport each homered in the game, with Fullerton and Marcos each collecting 4 RBI. Noah McMahon picked up the win and Reed Thursby tossed two scoreless innings in relief. The GHC bats would stay hot in game two of the series, pushing 13 runs across in a second mercy rule win. The Chargers added five more long balls to the tally for the day, with Emiliano Dominguez driving two out of the park, and Aidan Larkin, Wyatt Gatlin, and Alex Karst each adding a long ball to their resume. Jowsell Seda grabbed the first win of his Highlands career, and Wyatt Gatlin threw 2.2 innings of shutout relief to seal the deal. An interesting note for the day was that it was the first time in Charger history that GHC ended both games of a doubleheader with a pinch hit, walk off homerun. Harper Davenport's two run shot ended game one and Alex Karst's solo blast capped off game two.
Saturday opened with game three of the series, and it was very different than the first two. David McKechnie, Braxton Wade, and Jack Burns combined for a 3-0 shutout in a masterful pitching performance by the trio. McKechnie earned his second win of the season, while Wade came in for a crucial hold, and Burns picked up his second save of the year. The Chargers only managed 3 runs in the game, led by Ian Fullerton and Caden Marcos, but it was enough to get the win. In the final game of the series, the Chargers fell into a 3-0 hole after the top of the first inning, but punched back by scoring three of their own in the bottom half to draw even. GHC ran out to a 6-3 in the third, but the Lancers rallied in the fourth for 4 runs and took a 7-6 lead going into the final three frames. Heath Whitlock got the Chargers out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the sixth and Andrew Bishop provided a clutch, 2 RBI single to get GHC back on top. Jack Burns came in for his second save of the day and his third of the season to close out the game.
The Chargers are 7-3 on the young season and will be back in action on the road this Tuesday at Cleveland State.