Highland’s softball team was able to celebrate its Senior Day with a 12-2 win over visiting Galion.

The Scots scored twice in the first inning and never trailed in earning the five-inning win over the Tigers thanks to a fast start by two of their four seniors.

After pitcher Stevie Asher opened the game by striking out the side, the bottom of the first opened with Guinevere Jackson drawing a walk off Galion pitcher Madison Beck. With one out, Asher then stepped to the plate and deposited a pitch over the outfield wall to stake the Scots to a 2-0 lead.

“It was exciting to see a senior get on in the first inning and see another senior jack one out,” said Highland head coach Abby Steele. “So, right away at the beginning, that really got things going and got the momentum going on Senior Night. All four seniors did a great job.”

After stranding a pair of runners in the second inning, Galion was able to get on the board in the third. With one out, Beck cracked a double and was able to go home when the Scots committed an error on a Kaitlyn McKee grounder.

They would not be able to get momentum from that, though, as Highland responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. With runners on second and third and two outs, Abby Jordan hit a grounder that was misplayed to allow both runners to cross home plate and put Highland up by a 4-1 count.

Galion coach Doug Hunt felt that Highland played aggressive in the contest and it paid off for them.

“That’s a well-coached team,” he said. “You can’t take anything away from this Highland team. You could see from the get-go they were ready to come out and play ball. We’ve got to hit the ball. if we don’t hit the ball, it’s tough to score runs.”

And it also didn’t help the Tiger cause that, when his players did get on base, they often were stranded. The team left six runners on base on the day and also had a runner thrown out at home.

“We stranded quite a few,” he said. “They have a good pitcher. We were having trouble hitting her.”

Highland didn’t have that problem — especially in a fourth inning that saw them blow open the game with five runs.

Both Bri Tuggle and Jackson reached on fielding errors to open the inning and a Kate Clements walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Asher then smacked a two-run double and Aubree Bellamy followed with a two-run triple. She would then score on a grounder by Dalaynie Hernandez to make it a 9-1 game.

“They were able to follow through,” said Steele. “One thing we’ve kind of struggled with in the past is getting runners on and getting runners in scoring position and not finishing the job. Tonight, all 14 girls were able to be a part and finish the job and make a contribution to help things get going and beat Galion.”

The Tigers would get a run in the top of the fifth — although they could have easily tallied more. Ava Ball and Beck opened with back-to-back singles. After Asher recorded an out on a ground ball, a walk issued to Cece Campbell loaded the bases.

Mady Tinch then recorded an RBI single, but a second runner was thrown out at the plate attempting to add another run. Asher then induced a pop-up to get out of the inning with no further damage done.

Highland then ended the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jackson opened the inning with a single and moved to second on a grounder by Clements. A ground ball hit by Asher was misplayed to allow one run to score. Nikki Bennett then singled and Hernandez doubled to bring in a run. With the score 11-2 and runners on second and third, Galion elected to intentionally walk the bases loaded. The next batter, Jordan, lifted a sacrifice fly to end the game.

With the two teams playing against the next night, Hunt felt his team had to do a number of things better in order to even the season series.

“We’ve definitely got to play better defense and we’ve got to hit the ball tomorrow,” he said.

For the Scots, Steele was happy with the play of her four seniors — Jackson, Asher, Jordan and Abbi Burke, who added a single — noting they have done a lot to help a young team improve.

“They’ve kind of set the tone for the whole program,” she said. “We have eight new members of varsity this year and they’ve really shown them what our program is about and how to step up.”

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS