0:36
More VideosView All
By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Editor
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area

After five innings of near-flawless pitching by Bulldog starter Nick Fialdini, the Highlanders began showing signs of life in the home half of the sixth.

But it was not until the bottom of the order came to bat that McLean grabbed the lead -- one it would not relinquish -- thanks largely to the eye of the Geiger.

Highlander junior Charlie Geiger hit a full-count fastball from Fialdini over the wall in dead centerfield spurring McLean over Stone Bridge, 4-2, in a colossal Liberty District clash on Tuesday.

"The kid hadn't hit a home run in batting practice, so I can't honestly say I was sitting there expecting that -- even as a possibility," said Highlander coach John Thomas of Geiger, who was making just his fifth start of the season. "But he's a good hitter. If there's a better nine-hole hitter around, I don't know who it is. He's done a lot with his swing in the last year.

"Even though he struck out his first time, he saw eight pitches, and that's huge. That's something we preach a lot. Even though Fialdini won that battle, he won the war."

Added Geiger, who is 8-for-23 at the plate this year: "I wasn't expecting that home run at all. I was just trying to make contact. It was a full count, so I just shortened up my swing.

"I got to see few of his curveballs and also eight or nine of his fastballs, so that gave me a good timing for his fastball. When he gave me that pitch, I just timed it well and hit it."

Geiger's heroics all but overshadowed the frame-by-frame pitchers' duel between Fialdini and McLean starter Denis Buckley.

Fialdini and Buckley each allowed four hits -- Fialdini doing so in five and two-thirds innings pitched, Buckley in a complete game. Each starting pitcher struck out exactly eight batters and each allowed five walks.

The difference was that Buckley scattered his blemishes throughout his seven innings, while Fialdini's were piled up in the Highlanders' decisive, three-run sixth.

With the win, McLean (9-3, 6-1) moved into sole possession of first place in the Liberty District through seven of its 14 district games.

"I can't say enough about Buckley," said Thomas, whose team faces second-place Madison (8-3, 5-2) on the road on Wednesday. "That's the Buckley we know and love. He hasn't been that sharp up to this point on the bump. He really put us on his back tonight until we got the bats rolling."

He added, on Fialdini: "That's the best I've seen him pitch in three years. I really tip my cap to that kid because we've been swinging the bat real well and kept us off-balanced, hit his spots and really shoved it on us for about five innings."

Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com

Stone Bridge     (10-4, 5-3)    020 000 0 -- 2  4  2
McLean               (9-3, 6-1)     100 003 X -- 4  5  2

Pitchers: 
SB - Fialdini (L) - 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 5 BB
SB - Bladel - 0.1 IP, 0 ER, H, 0 K, BB
MC - Buckley (W) - CG, ER, 4 H, 8 K, 5 BB
Pitches - Strikes:
SB - Fialdini - 124-71; Bladel - 15-6.
MC - Buckley - 113-67.
Groundouts - Flyouts:
SB - Fialdini - 6-3; Bladel - 1-0.
MC - Buckley - 8-5.
Batters Faced - First-Pitch Strikes:
SB - Fialdini - 28-18; Bladel - 3-0.
MC - Buckley - 31-12.
Notable Batters: 
SB - White - 0-1, RBI, 3 BB, K
SB - Mattingly - 1-3, 2B, K
SB - Rositano - 1-4, R
MC - Geiger - 1-2, HR, GW RBI, BB, R, K
MC - Fitzgerald - 1-3, RBI, BB, R
MC - Ghannam - 1-2, 2B, BB, R, K, SB
MC - Beiro - 1-3, BB, R
Runners Left on Base: 
SB - 9
MC - 9
Time of Game: 
2 hours, 19 minutes.
Rain Delay: 
1 hour, 18 minutes.