Highlanders Enjoy Another 2-0 Week

McLean wasted absolutely no time in getting things going in the top of the 1^st.  Riley Beiro earned a leadoff walk.  Chris Russo then laid down an excellent sacrifice bunt, advancing Beiro to 2^nd.  Sean Fitzgerald drilled a single into center field, scoring Beiro and giving McLean a 1-0 lead.  Fitzgerald then got a great jump on a 1-2 pitch to Denis Buckley and when Buckley drilled a line drive down the right field line, Fitzgerald was able to score all the way from 1^st base to give the Highlanders a 2-0 lead.  Colin Cannon then came on as a courtesy runner.  Erik Payne lined a single into right center field, advancing Cannon to 3^rd base and giving McLean runners at the corners with one out.  Quinn Pippin then cleared the bases with a triple to the wall in right center field, making the score 4-0 McLean.  David Roffman then followed with a sharply hit ground ball up the middle which Pippin broke on immediately.  The Seahawk 2^nd baseman was able to get a glove on the ball, but his off balance throw was wide of the bag, allowing Roffman to reach 1^st and scoring Pippin to make the score 5-0.  Sweet then bore down to induce a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Buckley took the mound for the bottom of the first inning already staked to a 5-0 lead, and the right hander did an excellent job of handling the situation.  Buckley allowed only a one out double to Scott Reed, but induced two straight ground ball outs to get out of the frame unscathed.

Beginning with the top of the second inning, both pitchers settled into the game nicely and for the most part were able to keep the offenses at bay.   Buckley cruised for five innings, allowing three hits while striking out two and walking two. The Highlanders managed at least one base runner in every inning in the game, but were unable to add to their lead until the top of the 6^th inning.

In the top of the 6^th,  David Roffman led off by reaching first base on an error.  Brett Bleiweis entered the game as a courtesy runner for Roffman.  John Scholla then laid down an excellent sacrifice bunt, advancing Bleiweis to 2^nd with one out.  Kendall Wilkins followed with an RBI base hit up the middle, scoring Bleiweis and making the score 6-0.   Riley Beiro then tripled over the centerfielder’s head, scoring Wilkins and making it 7-0, McLean.  The Highlanders could not muster any additional runs, but had added to their comfortable lead.

Freshman Billy Heberton entered the game in relief of Buckley in the bottom of the 6^th and was very efficient in retiring the Seahawks 1-2-3.  Heberton threw first pitch strikes to all three Seahawk batters he faced and threw just one ball against 8 strikes in the frame.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Quinn Pippin moved to the mound to close things out and allowed only a two out, bases empty walk while also striking out one to secure the 7-0 win for the Highlanders.

The Highlanders picked up contributions from a number of players in winning their fourth game in a row and picking up their second consecutive shutout.  In addition to being the winning pitcher, Denis Buckley enjoyed a 2-4, RBI day at the plate.  Riley Beiro reached base two out of four times in the leadoff spot and was 1-3 with and RBI and a run to go along with his 22^nd stolen base of the year.  Sean Fitzgerald (1-3, RBI), Erik Payne (1-3, run), Quinn Pippin (1-3, 2 RBI, run), and Kendall Wilkins (1-3, RBI, run) all had solid days for McLean.

“I thought we did a great job of coming out and establishing control of the game early”, McLean coach John Thomas said afterwards.  “We gave our pitcher a big cushion and he did a great job of going right after their lineup and throwing strikes after that.  I also thought that Billy and Quinn were sharp coming out of the bullpen, which is good to see.  We got contributions from a lot of different players tonight, which is always important but especially good to see this time of year.”

On Friday, May 2^nd, the Highlanders were back at home for a game against the Marshall Statesmen.  McLean and Marshall had played an epic game just two weeks earlier, when the Highlanders saw an eight run lead almost slip away from them through a very impressive Marshall comeback that fell just short.  Sean Fitzgerald started on the mound for McLean while Marshall countered with junior Greg Goldsmith.

Fitzgerald set the tone in the top of the first inning by retiring the Statesmen 1-2-3 on just 10 pitches.  In the bottom of the first, Riley Beiro led things off by beating out an infield hit.  Beiro then stole second.  Chris Russo laid down his 10^th sacrifice bunt of year, advancing Beiro to 3^rd with one out.  Sean Fitzgerald then ripped a single to right-center field, scoring Beiro and making it 1-0.  Fitzgerald then stole second.  Denis Buckley followed with a double to the center field wall, scoring Fitzgerald and making the score 2-0.  Erik Payne then drilled a single to right field, scoring Buckley and making the game 3-0.  Goldsmith escaped further damage, but the Highlanders had given Fitzgerald a nice margin to work with.

Tom Pacheco singled to center field to lead off the top of the 2^nd for Marshall, but Fitzgerald promptly struck out two of the next three Statesmen hitters to end the threat and retire the side.

In the bottom of the second, Brett Bleiweis got the Highlanders going with a one out walk.  Riley Beiro followed with another walk, giving McLean runners at 1^st and 2^nd with one out.  Chris Russo then singled to right-center field, scoring Bleiweis and advancing Beiro to 3^rd.  The score was now 4-0, McLean, and the Highlanders had runners at the corners with one out.  Sean Fitzgerald followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Beiro and making it 5-0.  Goldsmith escaped further damage, but the lead had been extended.

Fitzgerald remained in cruise control in the top of the third as he retired the side 1-2-3 on two groundouts and a pop out.  In the bottom of the third, Goldsmith appeared to settle in as he retired the Highlanders in order.

In the top of the fourth, Marshall again went down 1-2-3 as Kendall Wilkins made an excellent diving catch of an Aaron Gooding line drive to right field.  Fitzgerald then induced consecutive groundouts to keep the score at 5-0 heading in to the bottom of the fourth inning.

Goldsmith struck out Wilkins and Bleiweis to start off the fourth.  With two outs, Riley Beiro reached base for the third straight time by earning a full-count walk.  Beiro then stole second.  Chris Russo then drilled a 1-2 fastball over the wall in left-center field for a two-run home run, making the score 7-0 McLean.  Goldsmith escaped further damage, but McLean had extended their lead yet again.

Fitzgerald allowed just two singles in the games’ last three innings to put the finishing touches on the 7-0 Highlander win.  The sophomore notched his second consecutive complete game shutout (and third in a row for the Highlanders) allowing just three hits while striking out seven Marshall hitters.  Offensively, the Highlanders were led by Chris Russo (2-2, HR, 3 RBI) and Riley Beiro (1-1, 2 BBs, 3 runs, 2 SBs).  Denis Buckley, Fitzgerald, and Erik Payne each contributed RBIs to the Highlanders’ cause.

“Great win for us tonight”, Coach Thomas said afterward.  “To me, this was one of the most complete games we’ve played all year.  Obviously, our pitching and defense have both been very good for us recently, and Sean kept that trend going tonight.  I was very pleased with the way we approached our at bats tonight, and we obviously got a big lift from the top of our order.  Riley and Chris were tremendous for us in the 1 and 2 holes.  We are playing pretty good baseball at the moment, but it is absolutely critical for us to stay focused on getting better as a team.  I think we still have our best baseball ahead of us.”