Highlanders Split Week Three

In the top of the first, Fitzgerald encountered some early difficulty as Toulouse singled to right field to lead off the game.  Steve Bergsman followed with a trickler towards Chris Russo, the McLean shortstop, that Bergsman was able to beat out for an infield hit, advancing Toulouse to 2^nd.  Brady Rall then flew out to right field for the first out of the inning.  Brian Dola followed with a slow ground out to Russo for the 2^nd out, with both runners advancing to 2^nd and 3^rd.  Finally, Fitzgerald coaxed a ground ball to Russo again from Zach Madison, ending the Patriot threat and retiring the side.

McLean came out swinging in the bottom half of the first as Riley Beiro led things off with a triple off the right center field fence.  Third baseman Quinn Pippin followed with a double to right center, scoring Beiro and making the score 1-0 McLean.  Fitzgerald then hit a deep fly ball that appeared headed over the wall in left center, but was caught at the fence by the Yorktown centerfielder.  Pippin tagged on the play and advanced to 3^rd base.  Denis Buckley then followed with a sharp single to centerfield, scoring Pippin and making the score 2-0.  Toulouse bore down to get a strikeout and a groundout to escape then inning with no further damage.

Fitzgerald came out for the 2^nd and was all business.  The young right hander sandwiched a ground out and two strikeouts around a one-out walk, and McLean came up for the bottom of the 2^nd with a 2-0 lead.

Jim Bodson led off the 2^nd with a sharp single to centerfield, but a botched sacrifice bunt and a strikeout quickly ended the Highlander threat.  At the end of two, the score was 2-0.

Fitzgerald continued to roll in the third, as he allowed a bloop single over the second baseman’s head, but coaxed a pop out, a ground out, and a strikeout to get out of the inning with no damage.  McLean came up for the bottom of the third leading 2-0.

Riley Beiro again got things rolling for McLean by getting hit by a pitch.  Beiro quickly stone 2^nd, and Pippin followed with a walk.  Sean Fitzgerald followed with another walk, bringing Buckley to the plate with the bases loaded and no one out.  Buckley laced a 1-2 fastball into right field for a 2 RBI single, making the score 4-0 McLean.  Erik Payne followed with a hard hit ground ball to the Patriot shortstop, who promptly flipped to the 2B, who fired to first for a double play.  Fitzgerald scored on the play, making it 5-0.  Toulouse managed to strike out the next McLean hitter, ending the inning.

Fitzgerald set the Patriots down 1-2-3 in the top of the 4^th with two groundouts and a strikeout.  McLean came back up for the bottom of the 4^th with a 5-0 lead.

Jim Bodson again got things going for the Highlanders by coaxing a leadoff walk.  Toulouse managed a strike out of the next hitter, bringing Russo the plate with one out and Bodson on first.  Russo singled sharply to right field, moving Bodson to third.  Beiro popped out to the SS for the 2^nd out of the inning.  Russo then took 2^nd base uncontested.  Pippin walked in five pitches, loading the bases for Fitzgerald.   The McLean hurler helped his own cause with a hard single into left field, scoring both Bodson and Russo and making the score 7-0 McLean.  Toulouse managed to strike out Buckley to retire the side and escape any further damage.

Yorktown regrouped in the top half of the 5^th inning, taking advantage of a wicked hop from their leadoff man that bounced over the head of McLean 2B Brett Bleiweis, who had made an outstanding barehanded grab of a similar hop during the previous inning.  The Patriots added three more hits and also took advantage of a hit batsmen to tack on four runs in the inning.  At the end of four and a half innings, the Patriots had cut the lead to 7-4.

Yorktown brought in Adam Brown in relief of Toulouse in the fifth inning, and the Highlanders didn’t wait long to respond as Erik Payne led off the bottom half of the 5^th with a single to left field.  Payne stole second, and Kendall Wilkins followed with a walk.  Bodson then walked on four pitches, bringing up Justin Johnson with the bases loaded and no one out.  Brown managed to strike out Johnson looking, bringing up Chris Russo.  With the count 1-1, Russo laid down a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring Payne and making the score 8-4 McLean.  Wilkins then scored on a wild pitch, making the score 9-4.  Riley Beiro grounded out sharply to second base to end the inning, but McLean had opened the lead back up to five runs.

Fitzgerald came out sharp again for McLean in the top of the 6^th, as he allowed only a bunt single among two groundouts and his seventh strikeout of the game.  Going into the bottom of the 6^th, the Highlanders led 9-4.

Pippin grounded out to first for the first out of the inning.  Fitzgerald then continued his hot day at the plate by tripling into the left center field gap.  Buckley followed with a four pitch walk.  Erik Payne then doubled over the centerfielders head, scoring both Fitzgerald and Buckley and making the score 11-4.  Brown then settled down and managed a strikeout and a hard lineout by pinch hitter John Scholla to end the inning.

Denis Buckley came on in relief of Fitzgerald for the top of the 7^th, and easily retired the side despite a one out walk and a hit batter.  The game ended with Buckley notching the eighth strikeout of the game for Highlander pitchers.

McLean had swung the bats very well against the Yorktown pitching staff, managing 11 hits on the day, with five going for extra bases.  Fitzgerald led the way offensively for the Highlanders, going 2-2 with 2 RBI.  Buckley added a 2-3, 3 RBI performance and Erik Payne chipped in with a 2-4, 3 RBI performance as well.  Jim Bodson, Chris Russo, Quinn Pippin, and Riley Beiro all enjoyed solid offensive performances in the win.

Afterwards, McLean coach John Thomas commented, “Real nice win for us tonight.  Yorktown has a solid team over there and they are going to win a bunch of games this year.  I was real pleased with how we swung the bats tonight, and I really liked the way our guys responded when they cut into our lead in the 4^th.  Its always good to win the home opener, and we’re pleased to get this one under our belts.”

Friday, March 28^th marked the Liberty District opener for the Highlanders, as they played host to the Stone Bridge High School Bulldogs.  Stone Bridge entered the game with a perfect record of 5-0, while McLean came into the contest at 4-1.  Quinn Pippin was making his 3^rd start of the year on the hill for McLean, while Stone Bridge countered with ace Ty Weaver.

Pippin retired the Bulldogs in order in the top of the 1^st, and Weaver quickly retired the Highlanders despite a two out double from shortstop Sean Fitzgerald.  At the end of one, the score was 0-0.

Pippin again managed to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in the top half of the 2^nd despite a walk and a hit batter.  Weaver returned the favor again in the bottom of the inning, striking out two McLean hitters in going 1-2-3.  At the end of two complete, the score was still 0-0.

In the top of the third, the Bulldogs pounced.  Three base hits, three walks, and three Highlander errors all combined to enable Stone Bridge to jump out to a 4-0 lead.

Weaver continued to roll through the McLean lineup, mixing his pitches well and keeping the Highlanders off balance.  At the end of three, the score was 4-0 Stone Bridge.

Pippin got back on track in the top of the fourth, allowing just a two out single.  The Bulldog base runner then promptly attempted to steal 2^nd base, but was gunned down by catcher Denis Buckley, ending the inning.

Weaver rolled on in the bottom half of the 4^th, notching another two strikeouts en route to a 1-2-3 inning.  At the end of four the score remained Stone Bridge 4, McLean 0.

The Bulldogs struck again in the top of the 5^th, benefiting from four MHS walks and taking on a two out, bases loaded bloop single to center field to extend their lead to 6-0.  Buckley moved out from behind home plate to relieve Pippin, and quickly notched a strikeout to escape further damage.  At the end of five, the score was 6-0.

The Highlanders went down in order in both the bottom of the 5^th and bottom of the 6^th innings, as Weaver continued to pitch extremely well.  Going into the bottom of the 7^th inning, McLean still trailed, 6-0.

Corey Cannon led off the bottom of the 7^th as a pinch hitter and walked in five pitches.  David Roffman followed with a single to left field, putting runners at 1^st and 2^nd with no one out.  Brett Bleiweis entered the game to run for Roffman at 1^st base.  Jim Bodson then entered the contest as a pinch hitter, and hit a hard line drive right at the Bulldog CF for the first out of the inning.  Chris Russo followed with his 2^nd hit of the game, this time a single to right field to load the bases with one out.  Riley Beiro then grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Cannon and making the score 6-1 Stone Bridge.  Pippin then doubled to left center, scoring Bleiweis and Beiro and closing the gap to 6-3.  Stone Bridge then brought in sidearm pitcher Mike Palmer to close out the game, as the next McLean batter struck out.

McLean had shown guts in putting up three runs in the bottom of the 7^th, but had been beaten soundly by the more experienced Bulldogs in the district opener.  Chris Russo was a bright spot for the Highlanders offensively, as the sophomore 2^nd baseman went 2-3 on the day.

“I thought that our kids were ready to play tonight, but the reality is that we did not play well at all”, Coach Thomas said.  “Stone Bridge is way too good a team to give away 8 walks and four errors.  We could play them 100 times and never beat them as long as we make that many mistakes.  I was pleased that our kids never quit and made some noise in the 7^th inning, but obviously it was too little too late at that point.  My hat is off to Stone Bridge and especially to Ty Weaver tonight, as he pitched a great game.  We just have to get back to work and get better from here.”

McLean is back in action on Tuesday, April 1^st, as they travel to Vienna for another district game against the Madison Warhawks.  First pitch is set for 6:30 PM.