Highlanders aim for big hit

McLean baseball looks to replace senior leadership while still winning big

Connor Li, Reporter • March 6, 2024

The McLean Highlander Varsity baseball team poses for a picture at Lake Anna on Sunday Feb. 4. The team bonded over copious amounts of food as they played a tournament in Richmond.

As the spring season springs into action, baseball is ready to avenge last year’s heartbreaking district championship loss. They come into this season ranked 19th in the state of Virginia, showing clear signs of a strong team. However, the loss of both the skill and leadership of key seniors Jakob Luu, Gavin Bartlett, AJ Poole and Chris Morabito means that the team is still in a nascent stage of development.

“We need to see who can do the thing,” varsity head coach John Dowling said. “It’s easy to get in the bullpen and throw strikes in practice, but it’s a very different beast to get up on a game mound with runners at one and two, and throw those same strikes.”

The two weeks building up to the season are full of tournaments and scrimmages, every single one incredibly important, especially considering the need to fill these holes.

“There’s no replacing [Chris Morabito and AJ Poole],” said Ky Parrott, the new varsity assistant coach. “But the team has a really strong next man up mentality. McLean’s baseball has always been a really strong program in Northern Virginia, so while guys are leaving, there’s still a ton of talent coming up behind them, and it’s really demonstrated on this team here.”

In terms of long term goals, this group of Highlanders look to improve on last year’s disappointing result.

“Our goal is to win a district championship, put ourselves in a good position come regionals, get hot at the right time, and play our way into states,” Dowling said. “We have the talent to do so. We had that talent last year, but we did not achieve those goals [and] we learned quite a bit from last year, and we hope to take that into this season come playoffs.”

The regular season kicks off Tuesday Feb. 12 at 6:30, as McLean faces Gonzaga College High School at home. Gonzaga is not only one of the best programs in the state but also the country, posing a massive challenge for the Highlanders.

“We beat them last year, so we hope to use that same game plan and strategy to do it again this year,” Parrott said. “It should be a good one.”