Upstart McLean Turns Rainouts to Its Favor

With all the havoc wreaked by rain this season, McLean had no choice last week. The Highlanders had to play three of their most difficult Virginia AAA Liberty District games over three days.

"It was a tough week," McLean Coach Maurice Tawil said, "but a great outcome."

By beating previously undefeated Madison last Wednesday, 2-0, and then earning a 3-2 win over Stone Bridge last Thursday and a 4-3 win over Jefferson on Friday, McLean moved into a first-place tie with Madison atop the district. When Madison lost again on Wednesday to Marshall, McLean had the top spot to itself.

To say that's unusual for the Highlanders would be an understatement. Their last district title came in 1977.

"This means a lot to all of us because everyone looks at McLean as a school that's not so good in sports," junior pitcher Lauren Sutherland said, "and we want to go out there and prove everyone wrong."

The Highlanders took a big step in that direction when Sutherland scattered five hits on the road and shut out the Warhawks.

The following day, she allowed two unearned runs against Stone Bridge, but sophomore Jamie Bell led off the seventh inning with a double and junior captain Lauren McColgan drove her in with a sacrifice fly.

McLean had a scare on the road when Jefferson tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. But the Highlanders responded in the eighth on sophomore Jessie Straub's RBI double.

This week, McLean has added two more wins, both blowouts against South Lakes, to run its winning streak to 11 games.

"Coach Tawil told us when we were freshmen that we were going to be a really good team one day; he just didn't know when," Sutherland said. "And he told us two games ago, it's now. We're really good."

The Highlanders, who don't have any seniors, play at Marshall today and then have two more games remaining before they chase the program's first district title in 32 years.

Shaking Up the WCAC

For more than a decade, the last place to look for drama in area softball has been the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. O'Connell has dominated its league, winning five straight titles and 12 overall since the WCAC began playing softball in 1994. The Knights had a 121-game conference winning streak until last season.

This year, though, might be a little different. It's not just because O'Connell lost its first league game of the season Wednesday, 2-1, to Elizabeth Seton, but also because there seems to be a little more parity atop the conference.

Seton (16-6) returned from its spring break trip to the Grand Strand Softball Classic in South Carolina and defeated St. Mary's Ryken, 1-0, to avenge an early-season loss and start the Roadrunners on a six-game winning streak. Ryken, meantime, lost to O'Connell, but will get another chance Tuesday, two days before the playoffs begin. Good Counsel, despite losing twice to both O'Connell and Ryken, beat Seton, 4-2, on April 9.

"The thing with O'Connell is, they've been there so many times, they know what to expect," said Seton Coach Rita Horning, whose team also beat O'Connell last season. "They have a team that expects to be there and expects to win. If you can believe you can win, that's half the battle against them."

Behind senior pitcher Sarah Falcone, the Roadrunners now believe they can win anytime. She allowed O'Connell an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning, and then shut down the Knights.

Junior catcher Sam Colein drove in Jonnie Allison Abell with a single in the top of the fourth to tie the score. Colein led off the seventh with a single, but courtesy runner Kerri Moore could not advance. With two outs, Moore tried to steal, as Blaire Johnson singled to right. The throw to third base went long, and Moore scored the winning run.