The Highlanders trailed 0-3 in the bottom of the first against top seeded Citizen Christian Academy Tuesday afternoon as the Highlanders hosted the Patriots at Bradwell’s baseball field.

The Patriots are number one in the Georgia Independent School Association’s 2-A region and the CCA boys chipped away at Highlander pitchers Cameron Smiley, Nate Ward, Phillip Swindell and Matt Brown to close the game with a 20-5 victory.

The Highlanders managed to tie the score in the first with RBIs by Ward and Brown. Ward hit another RBI in the second and the Highlanders managed two more runs on walks late in the game, but the Patriots never relented.

Facing two outs the Patriots would stack the bases then nail a home run or line drive. It was a difficult game coming off a 15-11 Highlander win over Faith Baptist before the kids broke for spring break.

But Highlander coach Craig Ward knows they are developing a young pool of talent. The oldest Highlanders on the squad are still only sophomores.

"For the rest of this season we want to continue to develop our young pitching staff," Ward said.

"For next year and the following year we look for growth and development. This season we want to focus on those young pitchers, throw more bullpens and get their arm strength up, and win some games."

The Highlanders will travel to Appling Christian today and host Abundant Life Christian at Miller Park next Tuesday at 4 p.m.