On Monday, March 18 at 6:30 pm, the McLean Highlanders head to Marshall High School to take on the Statesmen. This game not only has a large importance in the sense of the season, kicking off their district record, but also in the minds of the team and their coaches due to the fact that they fell to the statesmen in the 2023 district final.

“We just need to turn the page on last year [and] focus on the fact that we’re a new team [and Marshall is] a new team,” director of student activities Greg Miller said. “It’s a district game, and we should treat it as such.”

However, the loss is still bitter in the minds of the returning players and coaches, allowing them to bring that fire into their preparation for the game.

“On Saturday, we practiced some pitch shapes we might see [against Marshall],” head coach John Dowling said. “We’re all really excited and ready to get these guys.”

After starting the season with a loss to Gonzaga in an out of district stretch that looked incredibly difficult, the team came away with a massive win against Georgetown Preparatory School, a victory that will positively affect them heading into this game.

“[Georgetown] was a really well coached and talented team, but we came out and played good defense and got some timely hits,” Dowling said. “It proves to our players what we’ve seen all along—that we can compete with anybody when we don’t beat ourselves.”

The Highlander’s hope to bring this momentum into the game tonight, as starting the district record on the right footing is impactful for the postseason.

“The number one seed in the district gets an automatic bid in the regional tournament, and in baseball, where anything can happen on any given night, that is huge,” Miller said. “Every district game is really important.”