Dateline: McLean
On a very pleasant summer evening Reston National traveled to McLean. Coach Grossman lost the toss and thus the Nationals batted first. George hit a screaming line drive to third that unfortunately went right to the third baseman. The rest of the top of the order went quietly. Eric threw heat and struck out the first batter. Two singles and a few wild pitches and two groundouts resulted in a 2-0 lead for the McLean Nationals.
In the second, the Nationals started to fight back. Justin led off with a hard single to center. Walks to Isaac and Cam loaded the bases. A wild pitch scored Justin. Nationals fans rejoiced, but unfortunately, no more runs scored that inning. In the bottom of the second, a leadoff double and a few errors resulted in four runs. After two it was 6-1 McLean National.
Reston threatened again in the third. A single by Eric and walk to Justin put runners on at first and second, but sadly two more runners were left on base. In the bottom of the third the first batter hit a long fly to left, but Nicholas calmly drifted over and made the catch for out one. Eric threw heat and blasted two strikeouts past the next two batters. After three it was still 6-1.
In the fourth, Reston put on two more base runners with a walk to Kaz and a walk to Michael, but sadly they were left on base. In the fourth, another fly ball was hit to left and this time Michael settled under it for a nice catch for out one. A double and error and a home run resulted in three more runs for McLean. George came on in relief and after an initial walk, calmly got the next batter to ground into a fielders choice as Alec made a nice play at third and fired to Eric at second. With two outs George blasted three strikes past the next batter.
After four it was 9-1 but the Reston Nationals kept battling.
In the fifth, Ian drilled a shot past the second baseman and he moved to second on a wild pitch. Justin reached first on an infield hit, Alec hit a shot to right to score Ian and Cam walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, three more runners were left stranded, but the score was now 9-2. In the bottom of the fifth, McLean led off with an infield single. The next batter grounded a hard shot to Alec at third who deftly scooped and fired to Eric at second for out one. The next batter lined out to Eric at second for out two. Tyler came on in relief and gave up a double to left to score a run. The next batter was hit to put runners on at first and second. The next batter singled to center, one run scored and McLean tried to score a second, but a nice throw from Ian to Alec at third and then Alec wheeled and fired home to Justin who got the runner easily for out three.
Down 11-2, the Reston Nationals never gave up. With no one on and one out, George walked. Eric grounded into a fielders choice for out two. Ian hit a screaming line drive to left to put runners on at third and second. Justin blasted a shot to right to score Ian and Eric. Alec singled. Tyler hit a shot past second to score Justin and Alec. Kaz walked. Reston players and fans were chanting “TWO OUT RALLY” the whole time. Unfortunately, the McLean pitcher settled down and got out three. Final Score: McLean 11 Reston 6.
Coach Grossman said, “Well, we certainly never gave up and I give Eric a lot of credit for hanging in there and pitching over three very solid innings — although five runs scored he only gave up three hits in the first three innings. His pitching kept us in it. I really like how our team never gave up and I think we gave McLean quite a scare with our rally in the sixth.”
