As a cold wind set in, the Highlanders took the field for their first district matchup of the season against the Washington-Liberty Generals. After starting the season with two wins, they were looking to continue the unbeaten streak into district play.
Junior pitcher Saoirse Sigler took the mound first and came out hot with back to back strikeouts to start the inning. After a long at bat that ended in a walk, Sigler forced a lineout to end the inning.
The Highlanders were up to bat next, and sophomore first baseman Sydney Walker smashed a leadoff single. After two strikeouts, Walker stole second, but the inning was put away on a groundout.
The second inning started and ended with double zeros on the scoreboard. Both teams were playing shutout defense but were unable to get bats on balls.
“It’s only a matter of time before our bats get going,” head coach Maurice Tawil said. “There is no reason to panic for us.”
Sigler started the third inning with her fourth strikeout of the act, and the defense showed out to cause two flyouts and bring McLean to bat in the third. Walker led off the third and ripped a double to right field, getting to third on a groundout. Senior center fielder Maddie Staats took the plate next and drove Walker home with a single, making the score 1-0.
The fourth inning was much like the second, with no scores from either side. Sigler continued to dominate on the mound but McLean’s hitting was struggling to make a mark.
That was until the fifth inning, with a leadoff single by junior left fielder Addison Ward who got to second on a steal and an RBI double by Walker to make the score 2-0. Walker stole third on a wild pitch and senior second baseman Elise Walker got to first on a four pitch walk. After an error on a ground ball by Staats and a sacrifice groundout by junior left fielder Gennie Fagan, the Highlanders were boasting a 5-0 score. Two more RBIs ended the fifth inning with a score of 7-0 and the Highlanders finally getting in their groove.
In the top of the sixth, the Generals tallied two runs off of a couple of extra base hits. In the bottom, the Highlanders loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly generated two runs to match the Generals’ performance in the top half of the inning.
Needing only three outs to end the game, Sigler walked to the mound with confidence and finished the game strong with two forced outs and a strikeout to solidify her dominant game.
“Great job to all the girls, especially our pitcher for getting the job done as usual,” junior third baseman Riley Staats said. “We started off a little slow but were able to catch fire later on and solidify the win.”
The team takes on Yorktown on Friday, March 28, with the consensus that they are the team to beat, and the championships are theirs to lose.
“Everyone is coming after us,” Tawil said. “It makes their season when they beat us, and we just have to stay prepared for anything that comes at us.”
