Pitching staff stays strong as Freeport baseball blanks Highlands

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, April 6, 2018 | 9:12 PM

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For the second consecutive day, the Freeport baseball team got strong starting pitching and timely hitting that resulted in a Section 1-4A victory.

Brodey Cowan pitched five shutout innings, and Sean Furlong recorded three hits as Freeport downed neighboring Highlands, 10-0, on Friday at windswept Freeport Community Park.

The Yellowjackets (2-0, 2-0) scored in every inning in a game halted after one out in the bottom of the sixth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Furlong pitched Freeport to a complete-game victory in the season opener Thursday.

“So far, I've really liked our pitchers,” Yellowjackets coach Ed Carr said. “We preach first-pitch strikes. Sean did it Thursday, and Brodey was out ahead of the hitters today. We've got good depth on our pitching staff.”

Jarrett Heilman pitched the sixth inning and retired the Golden Rams (0-2, 0-2) in order.

Cowan singled in the bottom of the first and scored when Matt Charlton belted a roller through the right side to give Freeport a 1-0 lead.

The Yellowjackets sent 10 batters to the plate in the second and tallied four runs.

Aiden Skradski and Furlong hit back-to-back triples to highlight the inning. Zach Allen drew a bases-loaded walk to send home the inning's fourth run.

In the third, Gavin Skradski and Cowan executed a double steal, with Skradski scoring as Cowan swiped second.

Besides recording the win, Cowan stole three bases and reached base four times.

Gavin Skraski also reached base four times. Ben Bleale and the Skradskis, the bottom third of the batting order, combined for five hits and five runs.

“That's one thing I felt, going into the season, that we would be a different offense than last year,” said Carr, who celebrated his birthday Friday. “We wouldn't have the power this year, but we can get on base.”

Meanwhile, this isn't the start new Highlands coach Jeff Campbell was looking for.

The Golden Rams have been blanked for two straight days.

“Just like Thursday, I'm not looking at the scoreboard, I'm looking for improvements,” Campbell said. “We were improved a lot today, we were a lot more cleaner today, pitchers threw strikes today. We're putting the bat on the ball, it's just not finding the spots.”

The closest Highlands came to scoring was in the fourth inning. With runners on first and third with one out, the Golden Rams tried a squeeze play. But Mikey Magdinec bunted back to Cowan, who underhanded the ball to Alex Ehalt, who then tagged Nick Cichello out at the plate.

In the fifth, Highlands loaded the bases with one out. Cory Nicastro hit a comebacker to the mound. Cowan came home, and Ehalt threw to first to complete the 1-2-3 double play.

Josh Stuckley had two singles for Highlands.

“At one point in the fifth inning, I looked up at the scoreboard and they had 10 hits and we had six,” Campbell said. “They're learning, they're coming.”

Furlong's third hit of the day drove home Beale to give Freeport its 10th run and end the game.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Freeport, Highlands