On Tuesday, April 18^th, the Highlanders ended a six day layoff from game action and returned to their home diamond to host the WT Woodson Cavaliers. McLean entered the game with an 8-3 overall record and a 3-2 record in Liberty District contests. The starting pitching match up featured the Highlander’s Danny Bell against Woodson’s Joey Carlton. Bell provided McLean with a gutsy performance, but Carlton was able to outlast McLean’s ace and the Cavaliers prevailed 6-5. "Danny didn’t have his best stuff today, but he gave us everything he had and he kept us in the game, and that’s all we can ask", McLean coach John Thomas said. "We came out flat and our level of intensity and enthusiasm was way too low to beat a team like Woodson. We’re especially disappointed because it happened on our field."

Bright spots for the Highlanders included Tyler Thompson, who was 2-3 with an RBI, and Shane Mills, who relived Bell in the 5^th inning and struck out six Cavalier hitters in 2 2/3 innings of work.

The next day McLean had an opportunity to redeem themselves against the Statesmen of Marshall High School. The Highlanders were back on the road (for the fourth time in their first seven district games), and were hungry to get back in the win column. The Statesmen entered the match up with a Liberty District mark of 2-4, but had beaten teams such as Stone Bridge and Osbourn Park over the previous three weeks. McLean struck early with the help of some erratic Marshall pitching, but despite having a 3-0 lead after three innings of play, the Highlanders could not hang on and Marshall prevailed by a 6-5 margin. McLean left an astounding 11 runners on base in the game, and according to Coach Thomas, that was the story. "We absolutely could not get a big hit when we needed it", he said. "Marshall deserves a lot of credit. They came through in the clutch on the mound, in the field, and at the plate. They outplayed us and they deserved to win."

The loss dropped the Highlanders to 8-5 overall and 3-4 in the Liberty District.

On Friday, April 21^st, McLean took the field under ominous skies to face their arch-rivals, the Langley Saxons. Langley entered the game having won eight of their previous ten games and was a game ahead of the Highlanders in the Liberty District standings at 4-3. The pitching match up featured McLean’s Frankie Cavanaugh against Langley’s All-District hurler Bryce Morrison, who entered the game with a 4-0 record and an ERA of 1.00.

Langley did not wait long to grab the lead, notching a run in the top of the first inning. Langley cleanup batter Chaz Ayoub added to the lead in the top of the third with a mammoth two run bomb to left-field to give the Saxons a 3-0 advantage. Morrison easily breezed through the first three innings, allowing only one McLean hit in the process. As McLean came to bat in the bottom half of the fourth inning, they trailed 3-0 and were facing one of the Liberty Districts top pitchers in the pouring rain.

Despite the obstacles the situation provided, the Highlanders proceeded to score 9 runs in the fourth inning, by far their most productive inning of the season. McLean hammered out six hits in the inning, and were also added by three walks and three more Langley errors. Before the 40 minute inning was over, the Highlanders had scored nine runs and had taken command of the ballgame.

"Obviously, the fourth inning was huge for us", Coach Thomas said. "I am so proud of our kids for continuing to battle despite all of the obstacles against us. Morrison is probably one of the top three pitchers in our league and he was in total command of the game up until that point. For our kids to battle back the way that they did is a huge testament to our leadership and to the character of this team."

After the fourth inning, Shane Mills came on for McLean to close out the contest. Mills notched six strikeouts in the final three frames for his fourth save of the year. "Shane stepped up yet again for us", Coach Thomas said. "For him to come on to pitch for the third time in four nights and still be as effective as he was is amazing. Shane is a great high school pitcher, but beyond that, he has the heart of a lion. I think our team gets a lift every time he goes to the mound, and our kids feed off of his leadership."

"It’s been a really tough week for us", Coach Thomas continued. "I can’t say enough about the character of our guys to be able to hang in there despite all that’s gone on this week and still be able to get it done against Langley. Our coaching staff is very, very proud."