Chantilly, VA- On Saturday afternoon, the McLean Highlanders took advantage of four Lee-Davis errors to defeat the Confederates 4-2 in the Group AAA state softball championship at Westfield High School.

  “We made mistakes defensively that cost us,” said Lee-Davis head coach Jackie Davis.  “That’s usually out game plan. Try to put the ball in play and make the other teams make mistakes and that seemed to be their game plan tonight too. Unfortunately, we made the mistakes that they needed to help them out.”

  McLean head coach Maurice Tawil knew exactly how the Confederates felt in the loss. The Highlanders came into the state title game having lost both the Liberty District and Northern Regional championship games due to miscues. Against Lee-Davis they committed no errors.

  “Those are game-wreckers I’m sorry to say,” Tawil said. “Against a good team you can’t make them. We guarded against that all season and today we didn’t make any. I like that line there.”

  The game started off as if Lee-Davis was the team that would take advantage of miscues. In the bottom of the first, the Confederates’ first two batters, Charyssa Parent and Lacie Madison reached after being hit by pitches from McLean junior hurler Jamie Bell.

  But a running mistake by Parent led to a pick off at third. It was followed by outs from Amanda Parker and Meredith Holmes to allow the Highlanders to escape the inning unscathed.

  Both teams came into the contest without having yielded a run in the state tournament and Lee-Davis was first to break into the scoring column in the bottom of the third.

  With one out, freshman Haleigh Cottrell reached on a chop shot that traveled less than a foot. Next up Casey Price lofted a shot over third for a single then Madison singled down the first base line to load the bags.

  Senior Amanda Parker’s RBI single down the first base line drove in Cottrell for a 1-0 lead and kept the bases loaded.

  But Bell got Holmes to pop-out to second and Taylor Melton to fly out to right to escape further damage.

  Parker felt her team may have eased up a bit after taking the early lead. “I think we settled after that,” she said. “We didn’t come back. I think we were just pumped up and ready and I think we overlooked a game.”

  McClean was quick to answer in the top of the fourth.

  Jessie Straub led off with a single over short. Next up, Gilberton reached on a bunt when the throw to first was bobbled.

  With one out, Lauren Sutherland sent a shot to first. Holmes fielded the ball and opted to go home, but Straub barely slid under the tag from Cottrell to knot the game at 1-1.

  McLean added two more in the top of the sixth after Gilbertson advanced to second on the throw that went into the dugout. Gilbertson scored when Sutherland singled over second.

  Sutherland then made the lead 3-1 on a RBI single past short from Megan Sullivan.

  The Highlanders added another run in the top of the seventh when Lauren McColgan scored on a wild pitch.

  In the bottom of the seventh, Cottrell also scored on a wild pitch, but Bell closed out the game by getting the final three Lee-Davis batters to ground out.

  The Confederates can find some solace in the fact that they return nearly every player next season.

  Being the only senior on the team, Parker was disappointed by the loss but still delighted at the unexpected success of reaching the state championship for the first time in school history. “I would have never believed it,” she said. “I never thought that we would make it here. I thought we had a great team. I just never knew that we would have enough strength and power to get here. It’s been a dream come true.”

  Having his first state title under his belt, Tawil had words of encouragement for Lee-Davis. “They’re young,” he said. “I know they don’t want to hear it, but they’ll be back next year.”

McLean…….. 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 – 4 7 0
Lee-Davis….. 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 – 2 6 4
M: Bell and Gilbertson; LD: Heinz and Cottrell
Highlights: Bell 4K’s Heinz 8 K’s.
M: Sutherland 3 for 3; LD: Cottrell 2 runs, Parker RBI