Coming off a massive home win against the Hornets on April 28th, the Highlanders knew they had the opportunity to break out the brooms and sweep the season series. On May 1, McLean travelled to Herndon to take on their district rival in a matchup that would have heavy implications on seeding in the District Tournament.
“We obviously know what’s at stake in this game,” Coach Ky Parrott said. “This game has major implications on district seeding, and we are going to do everything we can to bring home a win.”
The Highlanders made their presence felt immediately, going up 1-0 after recording just one out. McLean would go on to place runners on first and second base with two outs and junior outfielder Kyle Peterson at the plate. Chaos ensued as Peterson would go on to hit a towering three-run shot to dead center field, putting the Highlanders up 4-0 after just one frame.
“I honestly blacked out rounding the bases,” Peterson said. “It was awesome getting to celebrate with my teammates after touching home. I was mostly just happy to be able to help out the team in a game as big as this one.”
Senior JW Riggins took to the bump for the Highlanders as their starting pitcher. Riggins coasted through the first two innings, inducing weak contact and swing-and-miss strikeouts throughout.
“Everyone was working throughout the first few innings of the game,” Riggins said. “The offense was hot and the defense was playing lights out. We were firing on all cylinders.”
The Highlanders tacked on another run off of a passed ball, but the Hornets weren’t going down without a fight. A walk and back-to-back doubles scored two runs for Herndon, cutting McLean’s lead to 5-2 after three innings of play
“We have done a good job of capitalizing on other teams’ mistakes throughout the season,” Parrott said. “Our goal is to take advantage of every opportunity given to use, and not let anything go to waste.”
A flurry of Herndon mistakes, including hitting back-to-back McLean batters on wild pitches, led to McLean scoring three more to bring the score to 8-2 after the top of the fifth inning. Riggins would allow another run in the fifth, but would go on to pitch into the sixth inning before passing the baton to senior Dan Ockerman, looking to sweep the regular season series against the Hornets.
“Being able to go that deep into the game felt great,” Riggins said. “Herndon has a lot of talent on their roster, for myself and the defense behind me to be able to control their bats was a really good feeling.”
What had been a silent Herndon crowd all night quickly rose to their feet, after Ockerman allowed a single, triple and double to score two more runs for the Hornets with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, cutting McLean’s lead to three.
A juggling-act catch by third baseman Caius Antolik secured the first out for the Highlanders, but the Hornets continued to make noise on the basepaths. A sacrifice fly and an error on Ockerman put the tying run on first base, and the potential winning run for Herndon in the batters box with two outs. Ockerman then slammed the door on the screaming Hornet crowd, inducing a groundout to secure a regular season sweep against one of the best teams in the district.
“I definitely felt a sense of relief after we got the final out,” Peterson said. “Getting to celebrate on their field and being able to silence an opposing crowd after a win means we have done our job right.”
The Highlanders look to officially lock down the one seed in the Liberty District with only two more district matchups in the regular season. They will host the Marshall Statesman on May 12 for their senior night game and travel to Marshall on May 15 next week.
“We’ve got to finish out the regular season strong,” Parrot said. “We’ve got some things to iron out, but we will be ready when playoffs come around and massive matchups come into play.”
