As the Highlanders took the field on March 21 to face off against the Gainesville Cardinals, hopes were high. Coming off of a mercy rule win against Forest Park to open the season, the Highlanders were confident in their abilities.

“ We have a good team, and the underclassmen are ready to step into their roles,” senior pitcher Colin Tomasulo said. “We’re gonna try and throw strikes, and keep them off the board.”

The Highlanders came out strong, leading by a run at the end of the first thanks to senior catcher Reid Turner. However, the good luck was gone after the frame, as they proceeded to get smoked in the second inning.

An early error allowed one run to get in, and the McLean pitching struggled immensely, allowing two runners to get on base in quick succession. A double and a sacrifice fly tacked two more on, and a final single drove a fourth run in, leaving the score at 4-1 to finish the second.

The Highlanders were unable to rally, going scoreless in the bottom of the second. However, the cardinals came out with the same vigor they had in the previous frame, loading the bases early in the top of the third, then getting a double to drive all three runners in. Thankfully, the highlanders staunched the bleeding after a pitching change, with a final sacrifice fly leaving the score at 8-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

McLean showed their fight, as a sacrifice fly from senior outfielder Ryan Riggins and an RBI single from senior pitcher Dan Ockerman gave them life. Despite this hope inspiring display, they failed to turn it into a real comeback attempt, going limp to an 8-3 finish in the third inning.

But the Cardinals were not going to forgive this attempt at rebellion, knocking in another two runs and effectively ending any attempt at a McLean comeback.

Outside of both teams trading two runs to keep the lead at eight in the 6th inning, both teams’ bats went quiet. The game finished 12-5 in an ignominious loss for McLean.

“From a pitching standpoint, not throwing strikes really held us back,” Senior pitcher Nathan Tsitsibelis said. “We gave up a ton of walks and let the guys get on base way too easily.”

The Highlanders look to recover against Langley at Capitol one park on March 24 in a rivalry matchup.

“We’re ready for Langley, and we’re going to get those bats going,” Tsitsibelis said.