Highlanders Win Two at Home

In the top of the first, Buckley allowed only a walk to Brig Tison while striking out the side.  Riley Beiro led off in the bottom of the first for the Highlanders with a walk.  Beiro stole 2^nd base.  Chris Russo then walked as well, putting runners at 1^st and 2^nd with no outs.  Sean Fitzgerald then popped out to shortstop for the first out of the inning.  Denis Buckley followed with a sharp ground ball to Tison at shortstop.  Tison flipped to the Warhawk 2^nd baseman for the first out, but Russo did a great job of breaking up the play at 2^nd base, causing the throw to first to be wide of the bag and getting past the 1^st baseman, enabling Beiro to cross the plate for McLean’s first run.  Buckley advanced to 2^nd on the play.  Colin Cannon then entered the game to courtesy run for Buckley.   Erik Payne followed with an infield hit, advancing Cannon to 3^rd with one out.  The Highlanders then executed a double steal, with Payne taking 2^nd and Cannon breaking for home.  The throw was late and Cannon crossed the plate with the Highlanders’ 2^nd run of the inning.  Schrock escaped further damage, but McLean had grabbed an early 2-0 lead.

Buckley rolled through the top of the 2^nd inning as the Warhawks went down 1-2-3.  Schrock cruised through the bottom of the 2^nd as well, allowing only a Jim Bodson hit by pitch but avoiding serious trouble.

In the top of the third, Buckley struck out Matt Zepp to lead off the frame.  TJ Ersham followed with a bloop base that fell in front of the Highlander outfield for Madison’s first hit of the game.  Kyle McIntyre then flew out to Riley Beiro in centerfield for the second out of the inning.  Ersham then stole second base, and immediately advanced to 3^rd on a wild pitch.  Brig Tison then hit a ground ball in the hole that shortstop Sean Fitzgerald made a nice backhanded grab of, but the throw was in the dirt, enabling Tison to be safe at 1^st and allowing Ersham to score, making the score 2-1 McLean.  David Roffman then gunned down Tison trying to steal 2^nd base to end the threat.

In the bottom of the 3^rd, Sean Fitzgerald walked with one out, but Madison quickly escaped the jam with a 6-4-3 double play.

In the top of the 4^th, Ricardo Perez led things off for the Warhawks with a base hit to right field.  Alex Jacquez then walked, giving Madison runners on 1^st and 2^nd with no outs.  Jesse Jeter then sacrificed bunted both runners into scoring position, giving the Highlanders their first out of the inning.  With the infield in, Buckley dug deep and stuck out Schrock after an 8 pitch battle between the two hurlers.  With two out, Buckley stepped up again to strike out Casey Turner in four pitches to escape the jam and preserve the one run lead.  McLean was retired in order in the bottom of the 4^th, sending the game into the 5^th inning with the score still 2-1 McLean.

In the top of the 5^th, Buckley reestablished control of the game, retiring the Warhawks 1-2-3 and notching his 7^th strikeout of the game.  Jim Bodson struck out to lead off the bottom of the 5^th for the Highlanders. Brett Bleiweis then followed with a gritty at bat, earning a 7 pitch walk.  Riley Beiro followed by getting hit by a pitch for the 9^th time of the season, giving the Highlanders runners on 1^st and 2^nd with one out.  Chris Russo then bounced out to Tison at shortstop, but both runners advanced, giving McLean runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with two out.  With Fitzgerald at bat, Schrock then bounced a breaking ball in the dirt.  The ball skated past the Madison catcher, allowing Bleiweis to score on a close play at the plate, making the game 3-1 McLean.  Schrock then hit Fitzgerald with a pitch, but was able to get Buckley on a hard ground ball that was hit right at Casey Turner at 2^nd base.   McLean had added a crucial run during the frame, though, and the lead was now two runs.

Buckley sent the Warhawks down in order again in the top of the sixth inning, retiring Tison, Perez, and Jacquez in just 11 pitches.  The Highlanders got the leadoff base runner on in the bottom of the 6^th via a catchers interference call, but could not cash in on the opportunity.  The game entered the 7^th inning with McLean still leading 3-1.

Jesse Jeter led off for Madison by flying out to Beiro in centerfield for the first out of the inning.  Schrock then followed with a base hit to right field, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out.  Casey Turner hit into a fielder’s choice, with Fitzgerald flipping to Brett Bleiweis for the force at 2^nd.  However, Bleiweis’ attempt to throw out Turner at first was wide, enabling Turner to advance to 2^nd base with two outs.  Buckley then threw three fastballs by Zepp for his 10^th strikeout, ending the game and securing the 3-1 win.

The Highlanders had earned the victory over the vaunted Warhawks despite getting just one base hit on the day.  Erik Payne led the Highlanders offensively by going 1-2 with two stolen bases.  Riley Beiro reached base two out of three times and scored a run while also stealing a base.  Brett Bleiweis (0-1, run) and Colin Cannon (SB, run) added McLean’s other two runs.  Denis Buckley (CG, 10 Ks, 3 hits, 2 BB) was outstanding for the Highlanders on the mound in notching his first career complete game.

“Great win for us tonight”, McLean coach John Thomas said afterwards.  “No matter what the current standings are, the Liberty District goes through Madison until someone proves otherwise.  Beating them is always big.  Without question, tonight belonged to Buck, who I thought threw the best game of his high school career up to this point.  He put on us his back on a night when we only got one hit, so it’s hard to overstate his performance.  I also thought that David Roffman did a great job for seven innings behind the plate tonight, as he does just about every game.  We did a nice job defensively tonight, and our dugout was terrific.  The bottom line is that we found a way to beat a very good team on a night when our offense got shut down by a very good pitcher.  That’s something we haven’t been able to do in the past.  Anytime you can do that, you’ve accomplished something as a team.  We’re very excited to get this win.”

On Friday, April 25^th, McLean continued their home stand with a game against the Thomas Jefferson Colonials.  McLean had won the season’s first match up between the two schools 8-2 just two weeks earlier at TJ.  The Highlanders started sophomore Sean Fitzgerald on the mound, while the Colonials countered with junior Mason Friedman.

Fitzgerald retired the side in the top of the first 1-2-3, notching a strikeout to go along with two groundouts.  In the bottom of the first, Chris Russo got things going for McLean with one out by lining a base hit into center field.  Russo then promptly stole 2^nd, and scored on Sean Fitzgerald’s base hit to right field, making the score 1-0 McLean.  Friedman escaped further damage in the inning.

Fitzgerald continued to look strong in the top of the second, as the Colonials again went down 1-2-3.  Friedman returned the favor as the Highlanders went down in order as well.

In the top of the third, Fitzgerald allowed a one out walk, but notched his 2^nd and 3^rd strikeouts of the game to quickly retire the side.  McLean managed two base runners with two out in the bottom of the frame, but could not push a run across.  At the end of three innings, McLean still led just 1-0.

In the fourth, Fitzgerald notched his third 1-2-3 inning of the game on three straight groundouts.  Erik Payne led off the bottom of the fourth inning with an infield single.  Payne promptly stole 2^nd base.  Quinn Pippin then stepped on the plate while attempting to bunt for the first out of the inning.  Kendall Wilkins followed by lashing a single into right field, scoring Payne.  David Roffman then entered the game as a pinch hitter and launched a long fly ball all the way to the fence in center field, but the Colonial outfielder made a spectacular catch on the ball for the second out.  Justin Johnson walked, but the inning ended when Riley Beiro hit a sharp ground ball directly at the Colonial shortstop and couldn’t quite beat the throw.  At the end of four innings, McLean led 2-0.

In the fifth, the Colonials mounted their lone threat of the game as a single and an error gave Jefferson runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with two outs.  Fitzgerald then bore down to strike out Friedman in four pitches to get out of the jam and preserve the two run lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Chris Russo led off for the Highlanders with a walk.  Russo then advanced to 2^nd base on a wild pitch.  Fitzgerald then bounced out to 3^rd base, but Russo advanced to 3^rd on the play with only one out.  Denis Buckley then scored Russo with a sacrifice fly to center field, making the score 3-0.  Friedman escaped further damage, but the lead had been extended.

Fitzgerald retired the side in order for the fourth time in the top of the 6^th.  In the bottom of the frame, the Highlanders stretched the lead to 6-0 by plating three more insurance runs by virtue of two hits, a sacrifice bunt, and two Colonial errors.  Fitzgerald allowed only the second TJ hit of the game in the bottom of the 7^th, but the Colonials could not mount a threat as the next two batters were retired in order to end the game and secure the 6-0 Highlander victory.

McLean was led offensively by Erik Payne (2-2, run, 3 SBs), Sean Fitzgerald (2-4, 2 RBI), and Kendall Wilkins (2-3, RBI, run).  Fitzgerald notched his third complete game of the season with a crisp 7 IP, 6 K, 2 hit outing.

“Good win tonight”, Coach Thomas said afterwards.  “I thought that we did a good job of sticking with it through the early innings when we were having trouble pushing runs across.  Sean was very good tonight as the score would indicate.  I also thought that as usual our defense did a nice job of backing him up tonight.  We got a nice night from Kendall Wilkins offensively, which is good to see because Kendall has been working very hard and providing us with great leadership all year.  I also thought that Jim Bodson did a nice job of handling the game behind home plate tonight.  All in all, we’re pleased to get another district win at home, and we’re looking forward to having a couple of opportunities to get better in practice before we play two more big district games next week.”