Highlanders knock off CSN's No. 1-ranked team 6-2

From Greg Schimmel, Washington Post:

McLean right fielder Allison Wilhelm played Little League softball with O’Connell pitcher Jilly Falle from the time she was 9 years old, and she credits Falle’s father, Gary, with essentially teaching her how to hit.

When Wilhelm stepped to the plate to face Falle in the first inning of the neighboring area powers’ non-league game Saturday, she practically knew she was getting an inside fastball. 

“I’ve played with Jilly for as long as I can remember, so I pretty much know what she’s going to do,” Wilhelm said. “I knew she was going to come inside because I always like to get up on the plate.” 

Wilhelm took a step off the plate and lined a shot over the left field fence to give No. 8 McLean an early lead, setting the tone for a Highlanders offense that banged out 15 hits against Falle and the third-ranked Knights. 

McLean scored all six of its runs with two outs and upset O’Connell, 6-2, in a game that pitted last season’s Virginia public school state champion against the Virginia private school state champ. 

Wilhelm and third baseman Jessie Straub each went 3 for 4 for McLean (6-0, 5-0 AAA Liberty), and pitcher Jamie Bell pitched a complete game in McLean’s first victory over O’Connell (9-1, 8-0 WCAC) in the schools’ third meeting.

“McLean used to not even be able to play O’Connell because we weren’t even good enough,” Bell said. “The past few years our program has grown and gotten so much better, and to beat a team like O’Connell is awesome.” 

After Wilhelm’s two-run blast in the first inning, second baseman Tina Anwyll and Straub connected on consecutive RBI singles to make it 4-0 McLean in the bottom of the second.

Straub and Wilhelm added back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth inning to push the lead to 6-0, and they had the 16-time state champions reeling. 

“With two strikes on the batter or with two outs, I’m not sure we hit the spots the way we should,” O’Connell Coach Tommy Orndorff said. “We’re usually better than that.” 

On the other side, Bell allowed at least one base runner in every inning, but she didn’t allow a runner past second base until she escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the fifth. 

O’Connell center fielder Emily Simon led off the sixth with a first-pitch home run to left-center field, but after a sacrifice fly plated the Knights’ second run in the top of the seventh, McLean got the last out on a play at the plate after an O’Connell runner tried to score from second on an infield hit. 

“They’re really a very good team, so it felt really good to know we can play up to their level,” Straub said. “It’s nice to come out on top.”