The Manhattan High boys baseball team defeated Highland Park away from home last week in both games of the double header, 19-4 and 18-0. The team said they needed the big win to help grow with confidence during the last few weeks of the season.

“We played well because pitchers threw strikes and we looked for good pitches to swing at and when we did hit we made the defense work and had some quality hits,” junior Cade Perkins said. “All in all, it was a pretty successful game and we hope that the good form continues next week against Hayden.”

The Indians weren’t faced with as big of a challenge as they were in past games like Washburn and Seaman, but the boys took everything they could from this game.

“Everybody got to play and played well,” Perkins said. “Although we weren’t playing the best team in the league it’s still good to get out and get some game time in. Games are different from practice and we need to have all the experience we can get if we want to make a state run in the postseason so the games versus Highland were good for that.”

According to senior Dayne Aschenbrenner, coming off a big win scoring 37 runs in total over two games can be a confidence booster when it comes to swinging the bat in upcoming games. 

“We hit very well in both games and I think that we can take a lot away from that and build on it for the future,” Aschenbrenner said. “Our defense could’ve been better in the first game allowing four runs but we bounced back in the second game well enough to shut them out.”

The Indians will look to continue that hot streak this week in their two double headers. One will be Tuesday against Hayden at home on Tuesday at Junction City on Friday.