Baseball falls to McLean

In the Atoms’ last game of the Osbourn Park Tournament, AHS fell to the McLean Highlanders 10-2. The score does not accurately represent the play of the Atoms. While there were several good defensive plays, especially those of sophomore shortstop Nathan Clayton, the Atoms lacked confidence at the plate.

“We need to be more aggressive at the bat,” said Head Coach Ron Abrigo. “We didn’t come out [aggressive].”

The Atoms scored on two RBI’s in the middle of the game. The first run came in the bottom of the third inning when senior Dennis Gonzalez-Flores scored after a sacrifice fly by freshman Jake Barnes, making the score 5-1. Next, in the bottom of the fourth inning, senior Jeff Dean had a solo home run to left field, closing the gap to 5-2. But Dean’s homer would be the last run for the Atoms, who went scoreless for the last three innings.

Along with the batting difficulties, the Atoms went through several different pitchers during the game. Due to the lack of depth in pitching, several sophomores and freshmen received the opportunity to pitch. Some of these players also switch from playing junior varsity to varsity, including sophomore Nathan Reel and freshman Jordan Cowles.

“We don’t have a number two pitcher,” said Abrigo. “[The pitchers] are good, but young. We’re still working on a pitching combination.”
The number one pitcher for the Atoms is senior Eric Bridge, who is considered one of the best in the Northern Region. He did not pitch in the McLean game but is expected to pitch at least once, or possibly twice, this week.

“He can shut other teams down,” said Abrigo.

On the young Atoms team, Coach Abrigo mentioned some of the key underclassmen starters. Freshmen Ryan Keck, Coulter Stehl, Jake Barnes, and sophomores Robert Potts, Stefan Marquardt, and Nathan Clayton are young players expected to make a large impact on the team this year and in the future. Several of these players are hoping to improve the pitching staff.

This past week was full of rain and inclement weather, but like the other sports, varsity baseball was not sidetracked.

“Weather has not been affecting practices. We have still had solid practices,” said Abrigo.

Only one game needed to be rescheduled: the game against West Potomac High School that was scheduled last Friday was played last night at West Potomac. The game finished too late to be printed this issue.

Tonight, the Atoms take on Lake Braddock Secondary School at home. The Bruins are 3-3 on the year and have wins against district opponents T.C. Williams and West Springfield.