Highlanders Kickoff 2007 Season

On Tuesday, March 20^th, the McLean Highlanders opened their 2007 campaign on the road against the Saxons from Langley High School.  The two cross-town rivals both began the contest with Senior starting pitchers on the mound in McLean’s Drew Morgan and the Saxon’s Chaz Ayoub.  Ayoub entered the game as the more experienced of the two, having logged many crucial innings during the 2006 season for Langley.  Morgan was making just his 2^nd career start for McLean, and his 4^th career Varsity appearance on the mound.

The Highlanders began the game auspiciously, with their first two hitters striking out.  However, Morgan got McLean going with a two out single to left field.  After stealing 2^nd base, Morgan scored McLean’s first run on a base hit to right by Senior Tyler Thompson.  Thompson then promptly swiped 2^nd base and was plated by a single by Junior 3B Quinn Pippin.  McLean’s two out rally had given them a 2-0 advantage after the top of the 1^st inning.

Both Ayoub and Morgan settled in nicely after Langley was able to counter with a run of their own in the bottom of the 2^nd.   “I was very impressed with both starting pitchers tonight,” McLean head coach John Thomas said.  McLean scored their 3^rd and final run in the top of the 4^th when an error by Langley’s First Baseman allowed Tyler Thompson to cross the plate to give the Highlanders a 3-1 advantage.

McLean carried the lead into the bottom of the 7^th, when Langley was able to mount an outstanding comeback rally.  Tyler Thompson came on in relief of Morgan in the bottom of the 7^th, and with the help of an outstanding diving catch by Junior OF Justin Johnson, was able to extend the game into extra innings after the Saxons knotted the score at three.

An inability to produce timely hits ultimately did the Highlanders in, as Langley won the game 4-3 in the bottom of the 9^th inning on the strength of a two out walk-off double by Daniel Bergamesca.  “I was proud of the way our kids fought tonight,” Coach Thomas said.  “I thought our kids really did a nice job of putting pressure on Langley and taking the fight right at them.  We got some big-time clutch defensive plays from Nick Vanderhye and J.J, a couple of guys looking to make contributions for the first time.  That was great to see.  I thought that Drew Morgan threw the ball great and Tyler did a nice job as well after he got a chance to settle in.  Obviously, we’ve got to do better than 4 hits in 9 innings, but if we get those kinds of performances from our pitchers, we’ll be in a lot of ballgames.”

On Friday, March 23^rd, McLean hosted the Madison Warhawks in the Highlanders’ home opener.  Madison came into the contest ranked 8^th in the country in the Easton High School Baseball Poll, and 19^th in Baseball America.  McLean started Senior Andrew Stowe on the mound, with Madison countering with Jesse Jeter, a 2006 first team All-District selection.

Madison did not wait long to strike, as Sterling Sams put the Warhawks on the board with a two out, two run homerun in the top of the first.  After a two out walk and a base hit, Madison notched another run to go up 3-0.

The Highlanders were stunned, and were never able to recover.  Madison continued their offensive barrage, and the Highlanders were never able to fight themselves back into the ballgame.  After over three long hours, Madison was able to walk away from McLean High School with a 16-3 win.

Despite the lopsided final margin, there were a few silver linings for the Highlanders.  Freshman Sean Fitzgerald made his Varsity debut in relief for the Highlanders, and despite the circumstances was never intimidated and gave McLean four very tough innings out of the bullpen.  JP Zabel made just his second Varsity appearance as well, striking out two Warhawk hitters in 1 2/3 innings of relief.  Also for McLean, Fitzgerald, Zabel, and James Pascoe all earned their first Varsity base hits.

”Obviously, Madison is loaded,” McLean Coach John Thomas said.  “They don’t really have any weaknesses for other teams to try to exploit.  They have an outstanding and deep pitching staff, an experienced and well-rounded lineup, and outstanding defense at all 9 positions.  On top of all that, they are extremely well-coached.  Any time you are facing a High School team with those ingredients, you are going to have to play some outstanding baseball in order to win.  We’re not quite ready to play that level of baseball yet.   16-3 is 16-3, but our coaches were satisfied overall with the effort that our guys put forth tonight and I thought that for the most part, we kept competing for seven innings despite the numbers on the scoreboard.  We don’t ever want to take beatings like that, especially on our field.  That said, I thought that our kids stuck together and kept their heads up, which was good to see.  We just have to keep working and stay focused on getting better in every area.”

The Highlanders did not have to wait long for a chance to get on the right track, as they hosted the Wolverines of West Potomac High School from the Patriot District in a rare Saturday game at McLean Baseball Field.  McLean was back on the ball field less than 16 hours after their tough loss to district rival Madison, and were set to play under dismal circumstances, with dark clouds covering the skies and a very wet field due to showers the night before.  In addition, the Highlanders were hit with a stroke of bad luck when starting pitcher Tyler Thompson was struck on his throwing elbow by a line drive during pre-game batting practice.  Thompson did his best to ignore the pain and take the hill for his team, but was not able to throw his breaking ball or swing a bat at all, and was therefore limited to just 1 2/3 innings of action.

“Tyler got smacked pretty good before the game”, McLean Coach John Thomas said.   “He is a true competitor though and we thought he might be able to play through it.   He knew that we needed a win and he gave us everything he had for as long as he could, which is all we can ever ask.”

Freshman Denis Buckley made his Varsity pitching debut for McLean in relief of Thompson, and gave the Highlanders 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen.  “We’re asking a lot out of Buckley to be both catching and pitching for us.  That’s a lot to handle, especially when you consider that he’s in the 9^th grade.  Buck didn’t have anything close to his best stuff on the mound today, but he really fought hard for us out there and was determined to get us a win.”

The back and forth affair between the Highlanders and the Wolverines ended with McLean picking up their first victory of the 2007 campaign by a 10-7 margin.  Drew Morgan came on in relief of Buckley in the top half of the 7^th inning and was impressive in notching his first save of the young season.  Buckley and Junior OF Kendall Wikins led McLean offensively, each going 3-3.  Wilkins also knocked in a career high 4 RBI and Buckley picked up 2 RBI, including his first Varsity base hit.  “Kendall’s swing has looked very good the past couple of games”, Coach Thomas said.  “Today he really came through in some big spots for us, and we needed every bit of what he gave us.  Kendall played a great game today.”

Despite the win, the Highlanders demonstrated that they still have a great deal of work to do in order to compete in the Liberty District.  “I’m happy for our kids today”, Coach Thomas said.  “We needed a win and we got one, so we’ll take it.  However, I hope that our kids aren’t satisfied with today’s performance.  Nobody on our coaching staff was pleased with the level of energy that our kids came to the ballpark with, and we were very sloppy for most of the game today.  I don’t think that’s a coincidence. We had a lot of excuses that we could make today, from last night’s game to the weather to Tyler getting hurt in BP.  Unfortunately, I thought that our team as a whole took the easy route in the way they approached this game.  We have to get a whole lot tougher in a hurry if we expect to get the most out of ourselves.”