By Mike Varner
Southwest Ohio Correspondent

MASON- The Oak Hills Highlanders (4-2) defeated their rival the Colerain Redbirds (3-5) 14-6 on a windy spring day at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio in the Reds Futures Showcase.

Colerain got on the board early with four runs in the first inning against Oak Hills unsigned senior Jake Seaman, who was making his first start of the season.

Senior designated hitter Brad Maxie drove the second pitch he saw deep in the right centerfield gap for a two RBI triple and later scored on a ground out. Junior outfielder Jacob Murray doubled down the left field line, and later scored as junior catcher Tyler Leonard drove in the fourth run of the inning with a hard line drive to left center.

Colerain would tack on two more runs in the second but would not score again as Seaman settled into a nice rhythm retiring 11 of the last 13 Colerain batters. His fastball reached up to 81 mph. He became most effective in the third inning as he found feel for a 64-67 mph breaking ball.

The Oak Hills’ offense struck back for seven runs in the 2nd inning as they batted around against Colerain senior pitcher Austin Cox, who struggled with his command. He walked three and hit one batter in the inning. Junior third baseman Matt Baas had a two RBI triple and junior Jake Collingsworth added a two RBI single. 
Oak Hills added seven more runs off Redbird pitchers with many of them coming on Colerain defensive miscues.

Oak Hlls Senior Shortstop Jake Richmond (UC recruit) played as advertised, making some fine plays in the field and plating four on the day.

Colerain’s junior catcher Tyler Leonard displayed above average catch and receive skills while showcasing an above average arm. Offensively, Leonard showed a balanced approach at the plate with nice line drive production.

To view scouting notes from this game, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week.