Highlanders rally late in Tournament

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Late-game heroics is what defines The Woodlands High School baseball team at the 2011 season-opening Highlander Classic at Scotland Yard.

The tournament concludes on Saturday with The Woodlands taking on Corpus Christi Carroll at 10 a.m. and then finishing the tournament with a 5:30 p.m. game, facing Flower Mound.

On Thursday, The Woodlands rallied for five runs in the sixth inning to erase Houston Westside’s 7-2 lead and open tournament play with a 7-7 tie. Robbie Goldschmidt smashed a three-run homer and Channing Villareal followed with a game-tying two-run blast.

Andrew Godail belted a homer earlier in the game.

“We didn’t play real well,” Highlanders coach Ron Eastman said. “We didn’t pitch it real well. We made a few errors. But the guys showed a lot of heart and a lot of guts coming back and making a run at them and actually tying an outstanding Westside team.”

Then the Highlanders rallied late in Thursday’s nightcap to down Flower Mound 5-1. Bryan Brickhouse was outstanding on the mound and got help at the plate from Landon Merka, who homered to tie the game, and from Adam Aldred, who doubled to drive in two more runs.

Elliott Richoux blasted a homer in the following inning for good measure.

On Friday afternoon the Highlanders rallied late again, erasing a 4-1 deficit with four runs in the sixth inning to take the lead. However, this time, Langham Creek answered with a four-run sixth inning of their own to win 8-5.