Highlanders rally past Cavaliers, clinch district

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - The Woodlands Highlanders rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat arch-rival College Park 5-3 and clinch the District 14-5A baseball title on Tuesday night at College Park High School.

The defending Class 5A state-champion Highlanders rode the pitching of senior southpaw Aaron Milone to the come-from-behind victory. Milone entered the game with the Highlanders trailing 2-1 in the fourth. He allowed only one run, on a wild pitch in the seventh, over the final four innings.

“Aaron hasn’t pitched much for us,’’ said The Woodlands head coach Ron Eastman, who watched his club improve to 24-4 overall and 10-1 in district play. “But when he has, he has been lights out.’’

College Park’s Beau Ridgeway was almost as good. He was victimized by an untimely error that tied the game 2-2 and a wild pitch that allowed The Woodlands to go up 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning. Ridgeway has verbally committed to pitch for Texas.

“We have seen our share of college pitching, that is for sure,’’ said Eastman, who watched the Highlanders beat Bryan 3-0 last Friday to grab a one-game lead in the district race. “We should be ready for the playoffs.’’

Chris Andritsos, who is better known for his pitching arm and quarterback prowess on the football field, hit a line-drive single to right field to give the Highlanders a 3-2 lead in the sixth. Luke Sherley, who pitched the first 2 1/3 innings for the Highlanders, scored on a wild pitch to up the lead to 4-2 entering the seventh.

The Highlanders made it 5-2 in the top of the seventh when Alex Hale laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Mark Doerries, who opened the frame with a single.

College Park, which fell to 8-3 in district, cut the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Justen Heinrich was hit by a pitch, took second on a balk, third on Noah Vaughan’s groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

But Milone struck out Roosevelt Henderson and Austin Stokes to end the game and clinch the district championship.

“This was very rewarding,’’ Eastman said. “We were picked to finish third in the district. But these guys have been battling all year.’’

College Park grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Jacob Mardick doubled home Chandler Morris and Heinrich slapped an RBI single to left to plate Mardick.

Heinrich was the hero of the Cavs’ 1-0 victory over Oak Ridge with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

But The Woodlands kept coming at the Cavs in waves, hitting one hard shot after another until they finally started dropping in for base hits.

“These kids have been coming from behind all year,’’ Eastman said. “They won’t quit.’’