FT. PIERCE, FL— The Houghton Highlanders picked up their first win of the year in a big way, defeating the Eastern Eagles, 20-10.
 
Freshman pitcher Holden Deres picked up his first career win, tossing six innings while striking out five and allowing only six hits, two walks and one earned run.
 
The Highlanders opened the game with what looked like a repeat performance of yesterday, scoring three runs in the first and loading the bases with nobody out in the second.  This time, however, the Highlanders turned things up a notch, scoring more runs, capped by a Garret Kirkpatrick double to deep left-center and a Nick Melchiore triple off the right field wall.
 
Eastern cut the Highlanders lead to six in the seventh inning, scoring four runs to make it a 12-6 game.  Houghton, however, would answer with four runs of their own in the eighth, and would tack on four more in the ninth to put the game out of reach.
 
In his first career start, Carl Holmes reached base in all six of his plate appearances, going 4-for-4 with two walks.  Holmes also stole two bases, scored three runs and knocked in a run.
 
Tage Johnson went 3-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI and Duryea went 2-for-4.
 
Coach's Comments
"It's always good to get the first win of the year under your belt.  The guys had a lot of good at bats and we got a quality start from Holden [Deres].  He kept the ball down and changed speeds well, and we made some big defensive plays behind him.
 
"Eastern has a good hitting club—which we saw yesterday—so, with the exception of the number of walks from our bullpen, I was really pleased with how we limited their bats.
 
"Carl Holmes was a real spark plug for us today.  He brought great energy, hit the ball hard and gave us a great boost. 
 
"It was a good day and I can't wait to get back at it again tomorrow." –Coach Brian Reitnour