HIGHLAND — A walk-off defeat set the tone for a tough weekend for Allen Community College’s baseball team.
The Red Devils saw a 9-3 lead dissipate in the late innings as host Highland scored five in the fifth and one in the sixth to tie the sore at 9-9 before the Scotties’ Sergio Fierro blasted a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to win, 11-9.
Things didn’t get much better in Saturday’s nightcap. Highland erased an early 4-0 deficit with five-run innings in both the second and fifth innings to win, 15-9.
Allen returns to action Thursday with two at Coffeyville before hosting the Red Ravens Saturday for the final two games of the four-game series.
Highland held an early 3-0 lead in Saturday’s opener before Red Devil catcher Mees Robberse closed the gap with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth.
Things were looking even better with a seven-run top of the fifth. Armando Navarro started the fun with an RBI single. Caleb Horsey drove in two more with a single before Anthony Talpa scored on a fielding error. Logan Martin made it 7-3 with a sacrifice fly before Kyle Kleweno capped the rally with a two-run single.
Payton Pudenz got the start on the mound, allowing nine hits over five innings with seven strikeouts. Seth Broadwell allowed three hits over 1.1 innings.
Robberse led the offense with a home run. Cale Clark, Navarro, Horsey, Parker Martin, Logan Martin and Kleweno notched singles.
CALE Clark’s one-out single started an early Red Devil rally in Game 2. A walk and hit batter followed before Parker Martin’s ground ball turned into a two-run error. Robberse drove in another run for a 3-0 lead with his RBI grounder.
Carson Shepherd’s RBI single in the top of the second made it 4-0, but not for long. Highland took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the second and led 6-4 after four.
Horsey’s solo home run made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth, but Highland responded with five more in its half of the inning to lead 11-5.
Colton Ayres singled and scored on Clark’s sac fly in the top of the sixth.
Horsey, Kleweno and Ayres had RBIs in a three-run ninth to cap Allen’s scoring.
Ethan Payne got the start, allowing five hits over three innings. Elias Muller, Saul Bolivar, Thompson and Clark shared pitching duties from there, allowing eight hits over the final five innings with seven strikeouts.
Horsey led the offense with a double and home run. Ayres followed with a double and two singles. Clark had three singles as well. Adding one single apiece were Parker Martin and Shepherd.