Highlanders Beat Marshall to Advance
to Northern Region Tournament

In the top of the 1^st, the Statesmen put two runners aboard by virtue of two swinging bunt infield hits.  With two out and runners on 1^st and 2^nd base, Marshall’s #5 hitter singled to left field, but a perfect relay throw from Andrew Stowe to Quinn Pippin to David Roffman cut down Marshall’s Kevin Nutter at the plate and prevented the visitors from taking the lead.

McLean was unable to get anything going in the first two innings, as Mettrick was rolling and retired the first seven Highlander batters in order.  In the bottom of the third with one out, McLean’s James Pascoe got things started with a perfect bunt down the third base line for the Highlanders’ first hit of the night.  Pascoe promptly stole 2^nd base, and was then driven in on a single to right field by 1^st baseman Erik Payne.  Mettrick escaped further damage after that, but McLean led 1-0.

Morgan struggled to get ahead in the count for the duration of his outing for the Highlanders.  Despite struggling with his command, the senior ace made huge pitches for McLean in big spots to consistently escape dangerous situations.  Morgan left two runners stranded in the 1^st, one in the second, three in the third, and three in the fourth.  In the meantime, the Highlanders had continued to build their lead using a solid mix of power and finesse.  Andrew Stowe provided a huge two RBI single in the fourth, and James Pascoe added a two out solo home run in the inning to give McLean a 5-2 lead.  Morgan padded the lead with another solo blast of his own in the bottom of the fifth, giving McLean a 6-2 advantage.

Morgan started the top of the sixth back on the mound for McLean.  However, during his 3^rd pitch of the inning, the senior felt a sharp pain shoot up his elbow, causing him to leave the game.  Andrew Stowe came on in relief for the Highlanders and got the job done in the sixth inning, allowing one run on one hit and one hit batter.   McLean went down in order in the bottom of the sixth, and went out for the top of the 7^th inning with a 6-3 lead.

Stowe walked Marshall’s Tre Thomas to lead off the 7^th, and McLean turned to freshman Sean Fitzgerald to close the game.  Fitzgerald allowed a single up the middle to catcher Kevin Williamson, and then walked 2^nd baseman Tony LaBarbara to load the bases, bringing up third baseman Nate Gooding with no one out.  As he had done all year for the Highlanders, Fitzgerald dug in and pitched extremely tough.  Gooding struck out on a 2-2 breaking ball, bringing up the top of the Statesmen lineup with one out.  Kevin Nutter then hit a high chopper in front of the plate which Fitzgerald fielded and threw to catcher David Roffman for the force out at home.  With two outs, left fielder Alex Schroth came to bat with the bases still loaded.  Schroth hit a 1-1 rocket to third baseman Quinn Pippin’s right, but the junior lunged and made a spectacular catch to thwart the Marshall rally and give the Highlanders a hard fought postseason victory.

McLean had lived on the edge for the entire ballgame, but in the end were able to find a way to win.  The Highlanders were led offensively by Drew Morgan (2-3, HR, 2 runs), Andrew Stowe (1-2, 2 RBI), James Pascoe (2-3, HR, 2 runs, SB), and Erik Payne (1-1, walk, RBI, 2 SB).  Drew Morgan earned his 4^th win of the season on the mound for McLean, while Sean Fitzgerald secured his first save of the year.  The Highlanders were out hit by the statesmen 9-6, but 6 of McLean’s 8 base runners scored.  The Highlander pitchers left an astounding 14 Statesmen runners stranded on base.

“Unbelievable”, McLean’s coach John Thomas proclaimed.  “Tonight was a great win for our team and our program.  We knew that Marshall was playing really well lately and we knew we’d have our hands full tonight.  They are a vastly improved ball club.  They hit four homeruns against South Lakes last night to get here and they swung it well tonight.  We may not have been the better team tonight, but we certainly were the tougher team, and that’s what wins high school baseball games in the postseason.   Drew Morgan literally gave us everything he had tonight.  He is the definition of a bulldog and he simply would not let us lose this game.  I’ve never seen a kid struggle so much, yet come up with so many clutch pitches in the same game.  Stowe and Fitzgerald weren’t as sharp as we’ve seen them, but they found a way to get the job done and that’s all that matters this time of year.  We aren’t going to win many games when our 1, 2, and 3 hitters go 0 for 8 combined, but tonight the bottom half of our order really picked up the slack.  Pascoe was tremendous for us in the eight hole.  As happy as I was to see his home run, I was more impressed with how he got us going in the third by manufacturing our first run for us.  Erik Payne was outstanding in the nine hole for us as well.”

“This is what why work our tails off all season long.  Our kids deserved to win this game, and they deserve to be in the Regional Tournament.  Our coaching staff is extremely proud of this group and what they’ve become.”