On Tuesday, May 2^nd, the Highlanders were back on the road as they traveled to Alexandria to take on the Colonials of Thomas Jefferson High School. McLean had beaten TJ at home earlier in the year 11-6, but had to overcome three run deficits on two different occasions to do so. "TJ is a young team, but their kids play very hard and they have improved a lot since the season began", McLean coach John Thomas said. "They have been giving a lot of teams in our league fits lately."

The pitching match up featured McLean ace Danny Bell against the Colonials Michael Mensing. Bell entered the game with a record of 4-3, and Mensing stood at 0-3 on the season. Bell recovered nicely after TJ’s Daniel Bergamesca led off the game with a solo home run for the Colonials, and settled down to hold the Jefferson offense in check for the rest of the game. "I thought that Danny Bell looked really good tonight", Coach Thomas said. "He located his fastball really well and he had good pop behind his ball."

The Highlanders carried a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, when a single and a pair of errors helped Jefferson load the bases. McLean’s Shane Mills then entered the game and struck out the final Colonial hitter with the bases loaded to seal a 5-3 win for the Highlanders. "We had a couple of opportunities to end the game with Bell on the mound, but unfortunately we couldn’t quite seal the deal", Coach Thomas said. "TJ deserves a lot of credit for battling hard until the end, but we’ve got to do a better job of finishing games."

Offensively, the Highlanders were led by Danny Bell and Drew Morgan, who together went 5-6 and knocked in two of McLean’s five runs. Quinn Pippin also went 1-3 with an RBI, and Mike McCollough was 1-3 with an RBI as well. "The bottom of our order really stepped up big for us tonight", Coach Thomas said. "The guys at the top of the lineup struggled a bit, so we really needed production from those guys. The sign of a good high school team is if they are able to still win games when the 1-5 guys don’t produce. Tonight, we were carried offensively by our 6-9 guys, and we are very proud of the way they stepped up."

On Thursday, May 4^th, McLean was on the road again as they traveled to Reston to take on the South Lakes Seahawks. South Lakes had played the Highlanders tough the first game as McLean was able to edge the Seahawks by a 3-2 margin. The game featured a pair of left-handed starting pitchers in McLean’s Frankie Cavanaugh and South Lake’s Mike Boyle.

McLean was able to jump on Boyle early, as they raced to a 6-0 lead and ended the Seahawk pitcher’s night in the top of the second inning. Tommy Gately took over for South Lakes and proved to be very effective, holding McLean to just two runs over the next 4 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, the Seahawk offense came to life and was aided by a few costly mistakes by the McLean defense. "South Lakes did a great job of getting themselves back into the game after our early lead", Coach Thomas said. "Their players and their coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for refusing to quit and rallying to get back into the ballgame. That said, I thought our effort and enthusiasm was very poor from the second inning on. We got ourselves out to that lead by playing a certain way, then we abandoned what got us there and allowed ourselves to become a very mediocre team for the last 5 innings. Some teams can afford to do that. We can’t."

McLean found itself up against a wall in the bottom of the fourth inning, when their lead was whittled down to a 6-4 margin by the scrappy Seahawks. With the bases loaded and one out, McLean brought in junior Tyler Thompson to take over for Cavanaugh. Thompson promptly struck out the next South Lakes hitter, and was then aided by a terrific play from catcher Mike McCollough, who made a great block on a ball in the dirt and then was able to recover the ball in time to make a diving tag of the Seahawk runner attempting to score. "Mike stepped up and made a great play to get us out of the fourth", Coach Thomas said. "He played a great game for us both offensively and defensively and we would’ve been in a lot of trouble tonight if he hadn’t.

"Tyler deserves a lot of credit for getting us out of that inning as well", Coach Thomas continued. "He hasn’t pitched in a game since Spring Break, but he has continued to work hard in his bullpens to get better, and he has always been prepared to pitch at any given moment. Tonight we called his number in a really tough spot and he stepped up big for us in the clutch."

McLean went to closer Shane Mills with no outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the fifth inning. As he has done all year, Mills slammed the door on the Seahawk comeback, striking out seven hitters over the final three innings and allowing just one hit to preserve an 8-6 Highlander victory. "Shane bailed us out tonight", Coach Thomas said. "South Lakes really had a lot of momentum when he came into the game, but he was completely unfazed and he was determined to get us this win. He has been there when we’ve needed him all year long, and tonight was no exception."

Offensively, the Highlanders enjoyed production from throughout the batting order, as every McLean starter got at least one hit. McCollough went 2-2 with 2 RBI, Kyle Meagher went 3-4 with an RBI and 2 runs, Bird Sweeny went 2-4 with a run, and Mills went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 more RBI. Danny Bell, Quinn Pippin, Frankie Cavanaugh, Drew Morgan, and Tyler Thompson all had hits for McLean as well. McLean also benefited from Pat Tawil coming off the bench to steal two bases as a courtesy runner, and from Nick Vanderhye, who entered the game in the fifth inning as a defensive replacement at second base and looked sharp for the final three innings.

The win was McLean’s fifth in a row and brought their record to 13-5, including an 8-4 mark in Liberty District competition. "We weren’t quite able to play our best baseball this week, but we found a way to win on the road twice, and that’s always a good thing", Coach Thomas said. "Our guys have proven that they can compete with anybody in the region and find ways to win, and we are very proud of them for that. However, as we come down the stretch, it is critical for us realize the importance of being consistent in our approach and especially with our focus", he continued. "We need to find a way to peak at the right time. If we can do that, we can turn a really good season into a great one."