After Loss To McLean, Madison Rebounds
The Madison Warhawks and the McLean Highlanders played a crucial game in the Liberty District on Wednesday, and the Highlanders pulled it out with a 7-1 victory behind Sean Fitzgerald's performance on the mound.
Photos By: Julia Nguyen / Gameday | VIEW GALLERY
McLean's Sean Fitzgerald struck out 10 Madison hitters in 93 pitches and helped the Highlanders beat the Warhawks 7-1 in a crucial Liberty District contest on Wednesday.
Photos By: Julia Nguyen / Gameday | VIEW GALLERY
The Highlanders are leading the Liberty District after big wins over Stone Bridge and Madison this past week. If the season ended today, they would be the top seed in the Liberty District Tournament and also receive an automatic bid into the regional playoffs.
Photos By: Julia Nguyen / Gameday | VIEW GALLERY
VIENNA, VA - On another chilly night at Madison, McLean's Sean Fitzgerald pitched as though he was in a hurry to get back in the dugout and put on his jacket. Taking little time between pitches, he tossed a complete game victory, needing only 93 pitches to record ten strike outs. He scattered seven hits and issued no walks other than an intentional one. McLean only managed six hits but bunched three in a three run third and two in a four run sixth. That, combined with flawless defense, was more than enough for the Highlanders on this night.
Andrew Baird started on the mound for Madison. Cam Cassady made a fine play on the first pitch of the game charging a grounder to short to get the out at first with an off balance throw. Baird walked Chris Russo on a 3-2 pitch. He struck out Fitzgerald on a full count with Russo running and Alex Jacquez fired a bullet to Nate Favero covering second to nail Russo and end the inning.
In the Madison first, Teddy Turner laced a single to center with one out. Scott Bernier followed with a fly ball double just inside the right field line. Turner was unable to score because he initially had to hold at first as Charles Geiger narrowly missed a diving catch. With one out and runners at second and third, McLean intentionally walked Jacquez.
With the bases loaded, Ricardo Perez hit the first pitch on a line to right field. Geiger raced in, caught the ball chest high and fired a perfect one hop throw to catcher Denis Buckley who blocked the plate and tagged Turner to complete the double play. It was a costly play because not only did it end the inning but Turner reinjured his ankle and left the game. It was a sign of things to come.
Erik Payne led off the second for the Highlanders by singling to right. He went to second on a bad throw back to Bayer. After a strike out on a 3-2 pitch, Payne strayed too far off second on a grounder to short and was tagged out diving back to the base. The inning ended on another grounder to short.
In the Warhawk second, Matt Moore blasted a double over the center fielder's head with two outs. After fouling off three 0-2 pitches, Favero hit a ball hard but right at the left fielder to end the inning.
Geiger led off the third for McLean by hitting a grounder to third. The ball took a tricky hop but Bernier made a bare hand grab and got the out at first. James Oldenburg fell behind in the count 1-2 before getting hit with a full count pitch to bring up the top of the order. Riley Beiro hit a fly ball down the left field line that landed just fair for a double with Oldenburg stopping at third.
With runners at second and third, Bernier charged for a bunt but Russo swung away and hit a high chopper. Bernier leaped for the ball but it went off the tip of his glove for an RBI single moving Beiro to third. Fitzgerald scored Beiro on a grounder to short with Russo taking second. Russo scored on a single to right by Payne. The inning ended on a strike out with McLean up 3-0. But for the ball hit just out of Bernier's reach it might have still been a scoreless ballgame.
The Highlander rally seemed to pump up Fitzgerald who struck out the side in the bottom of the third. He got the first two Warhawk batters looking at called strikes. With two outs, Bernier deposited the first pitch he saw over the center field fence just to the right of the flagpole. Fitzgerald went to a full count on the next batter, his only three ball count of the night, before getting another strike out on a checked swing.
Bernier made another fine play leading off the fourth fielding a bunt behind the mound and getting the out at first. Will Clarkson made a nice running catch of a drive to left on yet another 3-2 pitch. With two outs, Geiger walked on a full count but the inning ended on a fly to left.
Perez led off the fourth by launching a double to left center that hit the fence on a bounce just to the left of the 415 foot sign. Cassady popped up a bunt and Perez initially broke back to second. When the ball fell to the ground, Perez started for third belatedly. Fitzgerald fielded the ball and ran at Perez who was ultimately tagged out in a rundown by the third baseman. With Cassady on first, Fitzgerald made a couple of pick off attempts and got him on the third try. He ended the inning with a strike out.
Bayer set down the top of the McLean order 1-2-3 in the fifth needing just five pitches. Fitzgerald gave up only a two out infield single to T.J. Ehrsam in the bottom of the fifth.
Ominously, Payne started the sixth for the Highlanders by walking on a 3-2 pitch, the seventh time Bayer had gone to a full count. Ahead 1-2, he hit Buckley with a pitch and Chase Mills pinch ran for Buckley. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Payne scored as Jordan Ghanam lined a single to center on a 1-2 pitch and Mills also scored when the ball was mishandled by the center fielder. William Burleson pinch ran and Eli Facenda came in to pitch for Madison.
Burleson attempted to advance to second when a Facenda pitch kicked away from Jacquez. He was safe when the second baseman couldn't come up with the throw. Geiger struck out for what would have been the third out of the inning. Oldenburg brought home Burleson with an RBI double then scored the fourth run of the inning on an infield error. Facenda picked Beiro off first to end the inning but the way Fitzgerald was pitching, McLean had an insurmountable lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Fitzgerald retired Madison in order striking out the first two batters. Facenda gave up a lead off walk in the seventh but retired the next three hitters, two on strike outs. Fitzgerald struck out the first two Warhawks in the bottom of the seventh before Moore drilled a double down the left field line. Fitzgerald ended the game by getting an infield pop up.
Fitzgerald presented an unusual look to Madison's batters. A lanky righthander, he has a three quarters delivery, jerking a bit as he pivots and seems to launch the ball from behind his right ear. He worked so quickly it was as if every offering was a quick pitch. When he missed his spots the Warhawks hit the ball hard. Unfortunately, he didn't miss often and some of Madison's hardest hit balls were right at people or foul. Amazingly, 73 of his 93 pitches were strikes.
Coach Mark "Pudge" Gjormand summed it up by saying, "We had good energy early but the right fielder made a nice throw to end the first inning. It would have been good to get an early lead. They played well and we missed some opportunities. We put too many guys on base against an experienced team."
Re-Published From MadisonBaseball.com
WARHAWKS CHIP AWAY, OVERCOME COUGARS
Courtesy MadisonBaseball.com
April 23rd, 2009
VIENNA, VA - On a pleasant evening at Oakton, the Cougars jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but Madison chipped away with single runs in the third through sixth innings topping it off with three runs in the seventh to overcome Oakton. Gavin Hilburn pitched his second consecutive complete game victory the day after a Warhawk defeat the previous night. Coach Mark "Pudge" Gjormand saluted the effort saying, "Gavin was outstanding. He pounded the strike zone all night and showed what senior leadership is all about."
Oakton, playing the second of three games on consecutive nights, called up freshman Tyler Prime from the JV to take the mound. On his third varsity pitch, T.J. Ehrsam lashed a double down the third baseline. When a third strike momentarily eluded the catcher, Ehrsam took third as the catcher made the throw to first for the out. He was stranded there on a pair of infield pop ups.
Luke Willis led off the bottom of the first with a hard grounder up the middle for a single. He was running with the pitch as Chris Hanson hit a hard grounder off the first baseman's glove. Willis raced to third and Hanson was safe at first on the error. Willis scored as Hanson was erased at second on Bobby McCormick's RBI grounder to short. The inning ended when Hilburn dialed 6-4-3 for a nifty Cassady to Favero to Perez double play.
After a pop up to start the second, Cam Cassady drew a walk and Ryan McGuire was hit by a pitch to put two men on with one out. The inning quickly ended on a hard grounder up the middle that Willis ranged far to his left to snare, step on second and relay to first for a double play. In the Oakton second, Daniel Hanson blooped a one out single over the second baseman's head but was stranded on a pair of ground outs.
Nate Favero led off the third for Madison by ripping a single up the middle. He started to steal second but got a poor jump and momentarily hesitated part way to second. The catcher's throw was several feet to the left field side of second enabling Favero to avoid the tag. The error became costly for Oakton when Matt Moore lined a double into the right field corner to drive in Favero.
With one out, the Warhawks appeared poised to take the lead. However, when Scott Bernier hit a hard grounder to third, Moore got caught off second. He got in a rundown in an effort to allow Bernier to hustle into second. Unfortunately, Bernier slid into second the same time Moore slid back into second. Moore was tagged out just before he got to the bag. When the umpire called Moore out, Bernier, thinking he had been called out, left the base and was tagged out for a double play that was as bizarre as it was confusing. Fortunately, since it ultimately didn't affect the outcome of the game, it can now laughingly be dubbed as the Madison rendition of "Who's on Second?"
Hilburn quickly returned some sanity to the game by retiring the Cougars in order in the bottom of the third. Cassady turned in a web gem to end the inning on a hard grounder that hit off the side of the mound. Ranging far to his left, he snagged the ball behind second base and made a strong throw to first to get the batter by a step.
With one out in the top of the fourth, Ricardo Perez tagged a ball into the left field corner and rumbled into second with a headfirst slide. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI ground out by Cassady.
McCormick walked on four pitches leading off the bottom of the fourth. The walk broke a string of five straight batters retired by Hilburn who promptly retired the next six batters consecutively.
Meanwhile, the Warhawks continued to chip away with single runs in the fifth and sixth. Joe Corrigan led off the fifth with a walk, moved to second on a Favero sacrifice and scored on a two out single to left by Moore. In the sixth, Alex Jacquez jacked a solo home run to the flagpole in left center.
Oakton narrowed the score to 4-2 in their half of the sixth. Willis led off with a line drive single to left field. When the left fielder overthrew the cutoff man, Willis alertly took second. He went to third on a grounder to second and scored when McCormick grounded out to second. The inning ended on the game's fifth comebacker to Hilburn.
Looking for some insurance runs, Madison pinch hit Rhett Morrisette to lead off the seventh. He blooped a 1-1 pitch just out of reach of the shortstop. Corrigan followed with a bullet up the middle to put runners at first and second. Oakton pulled Prime and brought in senior Ryan O'Gorman to try to quell the rally.
Favero once again executed a perfect sacrifice to move the runners up and Ehrsam was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the infield in, Morrisette scored when Moore smashed a grounder to first. Trevor Falk made a fine diving stop but by the time he got to his feet, his only play was at first. With a run in and runners at second and third, Bernier topped a ball on the third base side of the mound. The pitcher hurried his throw to first and threw the ball away allowing Corrigan and Ehrsam to score. The inning ended with a fly to center.
The larger lead loomed big when Adam Henne led off the bottom of the seventh with a homer to left center. With one out, freshman Chrystian Brown drilled a single to right in his first varsity at bat. Fittingly, the game ended on a final comebacker to Hilburn who coolly started a 1-6-3 double play.
On the night, Hilburn threw fewer than 80 pitches, striking out two while walking only one. Hilburn was remarkably efficient; only once did he have a three ball count on a batter. Two of the three Oakton runs were unearned.
For his part, Prime handled the Madison attack well. Though not overpowering, he kept the ball down all night and mixed in some nice breaking pitches. Moore had two hits and three RBI to key the Warhawk offense. Coach Gjormand summed it up noting, "They put a young pitcher on the bump and we did what we had to do. We haven't beaten Oakton for a couple of years so it was big to win tonight. Coach Janis is a great coach and they will continue to be a tough team to beat for years to come."
