The opening bars of the national anthem sounded, and a cloudy Friday night evening was now graced with America’s pastime. The Highlander baseball players were Stoic and calm, but for those not on the field, the excitement was palpable, and it showed.
“This is our second time playing [Wakefield], but now we got a couple of wins under our belt,” assistant coach Ky Parrot said. “The last time we played them we had good momentum, saw some good pitches, and we put up a bunch of runs. [Senior Pitcher Aidan Carey] pitched great. We’re rolling him out again, so we’re hoping for the same result.”
Carey started off strong, and strike by strike mowed down the leadoff hitter. Yet against the second hitter, a ball flew down the baseline, and resulted in an ugly double. The Warriors went on to score, but Carey limited the damage to just one run.
The Highlanders, who had struggled with scoring early in the season, went on to score twice in response due to a double from senior center fielder Yuta Shimo and errant play from the warriors.
Through the next three innings, Carey made his presence known, holding the Warriors to no runs, but McLean was unable to take advantage.
Then came the bottom of the fourth, and a big double from junior first baseman Brennan Core gave the highlanders the momentum. In the end nothing came from it and they headed into the fifth.
With a man on second, a big Wakefield double led to a run, and Carey proceeded to put one in the dirt, allowing the man to advance to third. The Highlanders feared the worst, and it happened. A bunt allowed the man on third base to get to the plate, and suddenly the Highlanders were down one. Another error allowed a double, but Core’s great glove work on a tough throw to first got the Highlanders out of the jam.
But the home team came out swinging, and a single from senior infielder Ryan Soong let a run score, evening it out at three. Junior infielder Ethan Ball knocked another one in, and Core’s double put another run on the scoreboard, marking his 3-3 performance on the night. A groundout ended the inning, but the Highlanders had shown their resilience unbelievably well with the three-run inning.
The sixth started with Carey exiting the game for senior pitcher Jack Nance. But another scoreless inning for the Warriors, and a leadoff single from Shimo in the first at bat of the inning for the Highlanders put them in position to take unapproachable advantage. A Warrior error led to an RBI single by Ball, and the Highlanders now controlled the game, 6-3.
The seventh inning came and the Highlanders finished strong. Nance struck out the side, and the Highlanders went home victorious.
“We had a rough start in districts, no question about that,” Core said. “But we’re taking it one game at a time, and we’re getting there. With our win streak, we are putting ourselves in a good spot for the district tournament.”
The Highlanders won at South Lakes on April 20th as well, leaving the back to back games with two wins. They now can rest until Thursday, April 25, where they face Herndon away at 6:30 PM.
