On a beautiful, sunny October afternoon, the bold black team took the field to face the rowdy red team in game two of McLean Baseball’s annual Battle for the Bagpipe series. Battle for the Bagpipe, an annual tradition that has taken place every year for over a decade, embodies the spirit of McLean Baseball with the varsity seniors acting as team captains, and drafting their respective squads to battle out in a three-game series. The Black Team captured game one of the series with ease on Oct. 17, with a final score of 6-1, only needing to win one more game in the series to win the coveted bagpipe trophy.
“This is obviously a less than desired situation for our squad right now,” said junior Charlie Erlanger, Red Team player. “We just need to keep the line moving if we want to have a chance to come back in this game and series.”
Junior pitcher Nate Tsitsibelis took to the mound as the starter for the Red Team. Tsitsibelis appeared to be in for a rough ride, facing three players from the State Championship lineup to begin the game. However, the righty made quick work of the first three batters he faced, striking out junior outfielder JW Riggins and senior outfielder Gabriel Pegues, and getting a first pitch flyout from senior third baseman Jack Dailey to end the top of the first.
Riggins, who racked up six strikeouts in two innings of work in game 1 of the series, was set to be the Black Team’s starter for game 2. He allowed the first two batters to reach base safely on back to back walks. But three consecutive strikeouts got Riggins out of the first inning jam.
Tsitsibelis took the mound again in the top of the second, giving up a single to senior pitcher Matthew Gordon, followed by an RBI single by junior infielder Michael Ma to give the Black Team an early 1-0 lead. Tsitsibelis forced a lineout to finish his strong outing. Riggins once again jogged to the mound for his second inning of work, effortlessly sending three varsity hopefuls back to the dugout on strikeouts, bringing his strikeout total to 12 across four innings pitched in the first two games of the series.
Junior pitcher Kyle Levinson stormed in from the bullpen to the mound for his first appearance for the Red Team. A quick double from sophomore outfielder Ryan Hart and a walk from Pegues put two runners on base with no outs. A crucial error by Red Team allowed Hart to steal home, putting Black Team up by two runs. Two consecutive walks loaded the bases for the black team, and a controversial infield fly allowed Pegues to score from third, putting Black up by three scores. Senior Aydin Prell relieved Levinson in the top of the third, but multiple throwing errors by the Red Team gave Black a 6-0 lead.
Junior pitcher Logan Baldrate took the mound for the bottom of the third, and a flurry of walks and base hits allowed the Red Team to score two, before Baldrate was replaced by senior first baseman and pitcher Brennan Core, McLean’s State Championship Starter, with two runners on and two outs in the bottom of the third. A single from sophomore infielder Jackson Shaw scored two and pulled team Red within two runs, before a groundout stranded Shaw on the basepaths, leaving a score of 6-4 Black after only three innings.
“We just need to keep our head in the game and not lose focus on our goal of winning,” Riggins said. “As long as we keep stringing hits together, I really like our chances to win this game.”
The fourth inning contributed very little to the game’s outcome, with three Red hitters and three Black hitters each respectively going down on strikes. Aydin Prell once again pitched for Red in the top of the fifth, but a hit-by-pitch and a Jack Dailey triple put Black up by three once again. Shaw came in to pitch for Prell, and struck out Gordon to end the top of the fifth at a score of 7-4 in favor of the Black Team.
Gordon, another member of the State Champion pitching staff, came to pitch for Core in the bottom of the fifth. But an RBI triple from Prell and a fielder’s choice that scored him pulled the Red Team back within just one run at the end of five innings.
A plethora of groundouts made for a quick sixth inning, with both teams failing to put a run on the board heading into the final inning of the game. Jackson Shaw took the mound for the Red Team in the top of the seventh inning, and quickly let two runners reach base. A clutch sacrifice bunt from freshman utilityman Marcus Antolik gave the Black Team a much needed insurance run, putting them up 8-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh with the game on the line.
Ma confidently strutted to the mound as the Black Team’s closer, struck out his first batter faced on three pitches, but then gave up back-to-back walks to put two runners on with one out. Ma kept himself exceptionally calm, and induced a flyout followed by a groundout to secure the Black Team win. The squad flooded the field to congratulate their teammates on completing the fourth consecutive sweep of Battle for the Bagpipe before lining up to congratulate the Red Team on an incredible series.
“We worked really hard in these past two games, everything with our team was solid all around,” Pegues said. “I’m very happy to end my Battle for the Bagpipe career with a win.”
Shortly after the conclusion of the game, the two squads dissolved to reform one McLean baseball community at the pitchers mound where Brennan Core was awarded 2024 Battle for the Bagpipe MVP for his heroics in the batter’s box, and on the pitcher’s mound. The team will now shift their focus to the offseason in the weightroom, preparing to defend their State Championship title in the upcoming season.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to compete again this spring and we’ve got a bunch of guys coming back from last season who are going to be very good for us,” varsity head coach John Dowling said. “Now is the time to get bigger, faster, and stronger before the real games begin.”
