No one said the march through the Patriot District facing T.C. WILLIAMS at the beginning of the year was going to be easy. A very strong case can be made that the Titans’ league is the most competitive, strongest group in the region, top to bottom.

With a 7-6 record going into last night’s non-league game with Lee, the Titans are in the thick of things but not quite in the top half of their own district. A 14-3 loss to perennial contender Lake Braddock last Friday didn’t help the cause, but T.C. has six league games to go to solidify their seeding for the end-of-season tournament and posturing for a potential regional playoff berth.

ST. STEPHEN’S/ST. AGNES has gone through a true Jekyll-and-Hyde sort of month, winning five straight only to lose their last five contests. Their current streak, which includes two one-run losses to Landon, grew longer Tuesday afternoon when the Saints dropped an 8-1 home game to powerful Georgetown Prep. Now with a 6-10 record, the Saints (3-4 in the Interstate Athletic Conference) have three games left to seed themselves before postseason play begins next month.

On the other side of Seminary Hill, EPISCOPAL (4-10), is riding a three-game losing streak of its own into the final stretch of the regular season. The Maroon suffered a 10-2 loss to St. Albans last Tuesday night but have to face them once again tonight in the District. The Maroon’s 1-5 league record has them tied for last place with Bullis.

The rough season has persisted for BISHOP IRETON who were just 2-16 going into Tuesday afternoon’s game against DeMatha. Coach Mike Gallagher’s young team has struggled to match the success of last year in a tough Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. The Cardinals are in last place in their league and have games scheduled this week against Paul VI, St. Mary’s Ryken and Saint Johns.