For the first time all spring the Highland baseball team hit the diamond as the weather had deterred them from practicing on the field and this time on the field was to open the 2020 season as the Scotties opened the year with a doubleheader in Salina, Kansas against Kansas Wesleyan JV.

Scotties opened the 2020 season with a split in Salina falling 5-1 in game one to Kansas Wesleyan JV and responding in game two with a 17-11 win.

Game one saw KWU JV strike first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning but the Scotties had a quick answer as Jacob Selock laced an RBI single by the second baseman to score the first run of the season for Highland and cut the deficit in half. KWU JV would tally a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth while the Scotties were unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities leaving 11 on base in the 5-1 loss.

In the loss Jacob Gajic got the start tossing three innings giving up three runs on five hits, two walks, and a hit batter and striking out five. Austin Gottula was strong in two innings of relief giving up just two hits and a hit batter. Offensively Gustavo Nava was 2-3, while Victor Sanchez went 2-4 with a run scored and Selock, Avery Miller, Nick Schifftner and Jhors Gomez each had a hit.

Game two saw plenty of offense and scoring as the Scottie bats got rolling in the contest. After falling behind 1-0 after the first inning Highland grabbed the lead with a two-run top of the second scoring a pair of runs on a double from Victor Sanchez. The lead grew exponentially in the top of the fourth as the Scotties batted around and plated eight runs. An RBI single by Avery Miller got the scoring rolling in the fourth for Highland, while Nick Schifftner and Gustavo Nava each registered singles that scored runs and then Victor Sanchez launched the first home run of the season for Highland and it was a grand slam.

KWU JV would tally four runs in the bottom of the fourth but the Scotties answered with four in the fifth only to see KWU JV score five more in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth RBI singles from Schifftner, Cade Medellin and Alejandro Torres tacked on three more runs for the Scotties and Highland went on to collect the 17-11 win for the split.

Every Scottie that had an at-bat in game two had at least one hit and seven of the nine had at least one RBI. Sanchez led the way going 4-5 with eight RBI, two runs scored, two doubles and a grand slam. Schifftner went 3-6 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Nava was 2-3 with two RBI, two walks and three runs scored and Torres finished 2-4 with an RBI and walk. On the hill, Jared Wells got the start and the win tossing three innings giving up just one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out three.

The split starts the season 1-1 for the Scotties as they look to be on the road for the most of the first month of the season continuing the 2020 season on February 14^th and 15^th in Mt. Pleasant, Texas playing a three-game series with Northeast Texas Community College.