Highlands Christian Rallies To Edge Westminster 7-6

Highlands Christian rallied twice and capitalized on a key defensive move to earn its second win in District 3A-14 as the Knights edged host Westminster Academy 7-6 on Tuesday.

The Knights (5-7, 2-2) came back from being down 6-5 in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with one out and tying it when Kirvin Moesquit walked in as Saul Velez drew a base-on-balls.

Mitchell Carroll, Highlands’ starting pitcher, hit into a fielder’s choice to score Joe Ortiz for the go-ahead run.

“We definitely fought. We never gave up,” said Velez, who went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. “No matter what the situation was, no matter if we were up or down, we kept fighting, and that was our goal, our game plan before the game. We just did everything we could.”

The Lions (5-8-1, 0-3-1) had runners at first and second in the bottom of the seventh, but a terrific pickoff at first base by catcher Deion Rosalia ended the game for Westminster.

The Knights are using Rosalia as catcher now anytime he isn’t on the mound, Highlands Manager Bruce Charlebois said.

“He’s got great leadership. He’s got the quarterback mentality. He is the leader of our team,” Charlebois said. “Everybody loves him. And it’s nice to have him back there and the instincts we get, the Latin instincts we get that are similar to Kirvin’s with a different body, helps in certain situations. He’s got great field of vision, and in that situation, with an extended secondary at first base, was able to able to pick off a guy that was pickable and delivered a strike with confidence with the tying run at second. If he overthrows the ball, the game is still being played right now potentially, so that’s been a great move for us with Deion behind the plate.”

Down by two runs going into the fifth, Westminster scored three runs to go ahead by one. Weston Clemente’s two-run double keyed the inning. He scored once and drove in three runs. Josh Viveros drove in the tying run with his second hit of the game.

Clemente and Josh Viveros hit back-to-back sacrifice flies in the first to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Highlands came back the next inning with a run as Velez led off with a double and scored on Carroll’s base hit.

Highlands took a 5-3 lead in the third. Ortiz, Rosalia, Velez and Carroll had base hits to score four runs, and the Knights capitalized on three Westminster errors.

“I give all the credit to Highlands,” Lions Manager Nick James said. “They took advantage of some good opportunities when we went up early. They didn’t give up and put up a 5-spot and took advantage of our defensive miscues. We were fortunate enough to tie it back up and take that one-run lead, but again, they battled back and showed some good resilience and tonight just wasn’t enough for us.”

Tuesday night’s game was an example of a typical night in the district.

“It’s a tough place to play. All these teams are really well-coached, and again, I tip my hat to Bruce and those guys tonight, just like Sagemont a couple of weeks ago,” James said. “None of those guys are giving up. They’re fighting until the end. And you can see Highlands tonight, a lot of energy, a lot of effort, and we just couldn’t come up with a big late hit when we needed it. You give a good team like that with a lot of athletes too many good opportunities, too many extra outs like we did tonight and you’re going to fall behind and you’re going to struggle, and that’s where we’re at right now.”

Leave a comment using your facebook account!