Most coaches in many sports are reluctant to label anything a moral victory, especially after a lopsided loss.

But after Wednesday’s Incline/Portola varsity high school baseball game, IHS coach Tony Ernesto said a moral victory is exactly what took place.

The Highlanders lost 15-7. But considering Incline’s depleted roster, coupled with Portola jumping out to a 10-0 lead after the first inning, Ernesto said he couldn’t have been more proud of how his team battled back.

“The kids really fought back after that. They buckled down and never quit,” Ernesto said. “We played great defense, we hit the heck out of the ball. We could have folded after that first inning, but we didn’t.”

The loss dropped Incline’s record this season to 4-15.

Because of late season injuries and illness, the Highlanders had only nine players for Wednesday’s game. To further complicate things, the team found out before the game that starting pitcher Ian Richards would miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. The team on Monday also lost starting pitcher Josh Lindsey to a knee injury.

Because of a lack of pitching bodies, the team was forced to switch positions throughout Wednesday’s game, Ernesto said.

“I had my centerfielder playing shortstop, my second baseman pitching, my third baseman playing first; I only had two people in the right position the whole game,” he said. “But it was cool. The kids enjoyed it; it loosened them up.”

Ernesto said he used three pitchers during the game, all of whom had little to no pitching experience during the season.

Because of that, the team canceled its game Thursday at North Tahoe High School, so Incline can have enough pitchers for Saturday’s doubleheader against Pershing County High School (Lovelock).

Ernesto said Wednesday’s performance — outscoring a good Portola team 7-5 after the first inning — will boost Incline’s confidence for Saturday’s games, the final two of the season.

“Most of the kids were underclassmen who will come back next year, so that’s important too,” Ernesto said. “If there’s such a thing as a moral victory, that was it. If you would have talked to people after the first inning, you would have thought it would have gotten really ugly. But we fought back and never gave up.”

Saturday’s games are at noon and 2 p.m. at Incline Middle School.