Nationals Arm Race

This is post #4 of High School Tourney coverage for 2016.  Here’s the schedule:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff.  Covers: MD regional kickoffs, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Northern VA District Champs crowned   Covers: MD state finals, VA district tourneys, VA regional brackets, DC regular season results.  Usually publishes after the Memorial Day weekend tournaments finish up.
• #3: Virginia Regional Results.   Covers: VA regional results, State brackets, and summarizes DC and MD.
• #4: Final Prep Baseball Tourney Update: Virginia State Champions crowned (this post).  Covers: VA state tourneys, recaps MD, DC, Private School results.  Publishes mid-June once the Va state tourney wraps up.
• #5: List of all the final Player of the Year links that I’ve been collecting.

In this post, we will cover the Virginia State tournaments, re-cap MD, DC and private schools, and various Player/Teams of the year that have been released as of the date of publication.

Text in Red are pending results; I’ll update this post as the results come in even post publishing.

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Virginia State tourney match-ups and tourney locations

All the state tourneys run from June 8th-11th at the various sites.  All state brackets available from this link at VHSL.

Semifinals and Finals:
1A/2A – at Radford/Salem, June 10-11
3A/4A – at Liberty University, Lynchburg, June 10-11
5A/6A– at Lake Braddock/Robinson., June 10-11

You might wonder why the 5A/6A competitions are at (to be brutally honest) rather run-down high school fields in Northern Virginia.  Well its because ALL the spring state tournaments are being decided at the same schools at the same time.  Softball, Soccer, Track, Baseball.  So you need high schools with enough capacity to park everyone.  And that leads you to basically the two biggest schools in the area.

Now, why don’t they just host this thing at George Mason University instead??  A great question.  Without having any direct knowledge, but having been involved with field reservations for the various adult and youth baseball teams for 20+ years, the answer seems to be this: the GMU baseball coach is possessive about “his” field and thus no amateur teams are ever allowed on it.  In fact; in case you never noticed there’s no lights on Mason’s baseball diamond; that’s because if there were lights, there’d be a ton more pressure to give up use of the field to youth and amateur teams.  Frankly, there’s *zero* reason why Mason couldn’t feature itself and its facilities by hosting state championships (like Liberty and Radford do for the smaller divisions).  Its just typical myopic behavior by baseball coaches in the area who are ultra protective of their fields (while forgetting that its us, the Virginia tax payers, that funded their construction and pay their salaries).  Rant off.

 

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6-A State Finals: held at Robinson and Lake Braddock HS in Northern Virginia.

• 6-A North Winner Chantilly (23-2), runner-up Battlefield (22-4).
• 6-A South Winner Hylton (19-6), Cosby (13-7)

6-A State Semis Results:  In the first state semi, Battlefield threw their ace Jake Agnos, and Battlefield made a 2 run inning stand in a 2-1 victory over Hylton.  Agnos strikes out 10 in his final prep start.  In the other semi, Chantilly eased past Cosby 4-1 to setup the third meeting on the year between Chantilly and Battlefield.  (Washington Post story on both games)

6-A State Final:  In the State final, Battlefield jumped ahead late 2-0 but Chantilly scored 3 in the bottom of the 7th to walk off a State champion.  Gut punch for Battlefield, who threw their ace to get there and were in position to win.  Brett Norwood Jared Enders got the walk-off hit to win it in the end.  Chantilly, twice in a row runners-up, are finally your 6-A State champs (thanks for correction in the comments LV).

6-A State champ: Chantilly, 25-2 on the season.

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5-A State Finals: held at Robinson and Lake Braddock HS in Northern Virginia.

• 5-A North Winner Mountain View (20-4), runner-up Potomac (20-7)
• 5-A South Winner Nansemond River (19-7), runner-up Mills Godwin (19-5).

5-A State Semis Results:  In the first semi, Mountain View held serve against Mills Godwin and won 3-2.  In the second semi, Nansemond outlasted Potomac 3-1 to setup a 5-A final of Regional champs.  5-A State Final: Nansemond River defeated Mountain View 5-3 to capture their first state title.

5-A State champ: Nansemond River, 21-7.

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4-A State Finals: held at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

• 4-A East Winner Hanover (22-1), runner-up Jamestown (22-2)
• 4-A West Winner Liberty Christian Academy (18-3), runner up Kettle Run (20-2)

4-A State Semis Results: In the first semi, Hanover won a close game 2-1 over Kettle Run.  In the last semi-final played of the evening, Jamestown led Liberty Christian the whole way, but LCA kept coming back and ended the game with a walk-off hit by Zack Hess, who had pitched the whole game.  LCA advances 5-4 to setup a dream 4-A final between two of the best teams in the state.  The 4-A final was perhaps one of the craziest playoff games ever contested; Hanover held a 7-1 lead heading into the 6th inning, LCA scored eight runs in the 6th inning to take the lead 9-7.  Hanover answered by scoring 6 runs the following inning, taking a 13-9 lead into the last.  LCA rallied, scored 3 runs themselves to cut the lead to 13-12 without recording an out, but then stranded the tying runner at second to lose the state title game to Hanover.  The recap is worth the read.  What a game.  Hanover wins their third state title in four years.

4-A State champ: Hanover, 24-1.

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3-A State Finals: held at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

• 3-A East Winner, Poquoson, runner-up William Monroe
• 3-A West Winner: Turner Ashby, runner-up Rustburg.

3-A State Semis Results: Rustburg took out Poquoson 6-3 in the first state semi on the strength of a 5-run sixth inning.  In the other semi, William Monroe blanked Turner Ashby 3-0 setting up an unlikely state final where neither regional winner advanced.  In the final, Rustburg outlasted William Monroe 3-2 to take the state title.

3-A State champ: Rustberg.

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Smaller Classifications: held in Salem and at Radford University.

• 2-A match-ups: Maggie Walker d Grayson 2-1 in the first semi.  Goochland 2-time defending champ pounds Virginia 11-4 in the other on the back of a 9-run inning.  In the state final, Maggie Walker 3, Goochland 1
• 1-A match-ups: Windsor d Fort Chiswell 3-1 in the first semi.  Rappahannock defeats Eastside 4-2 in the other.  In the state final, Rappahannock 8, Windsor 7

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Recent Virginia HS champs:  Before 2014, we just AAA, AA and A; now we have 1-A through 6-A.

2015: See this post for 2015’s state tournament wrapup for all 6 divisions:

• In 6-A, Madison d Chantilly 6-5.  First Colonial & defending champ Western Branch were state semifinalists.
• In 5-A, Stone Bridge d Marshall 9-4.  2014 finalists Hickory & Freeman were state semifinalists.
• In 4-A, Glen Allen d Jefferson Forrest 9-3.  Fauquier & Hanover were state semifinalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Lafayette won 3-A, Virginia High repeated in 2-A and William Campbell won 1-A.

2014: see this post for 2014’s state tournament wrap up for all 6 divisions.

• In 6-A, Western Branch d Chantilly 6-4.  McLean and Cosby were state semifinalists.
• In 5-A, Hickory d Freeman 6-4.  Stone bridge and the surprising Freedom-South Riding semi finalists.
• In 4-A, Hanover d Millbrook 7-1.
• In the smaller classifications, Loudoun Valley won 3-A, Virginia High won 2-A and Northumberland won 1-A.

2013: AAA: Hanover d Great Bridge. Hanover’s super-junior Derek Casey (committed to UVA) outlasts Great Bridge and their 1st round talent Connor Jones (now attending UVA after spurning a likely late 1st round draft position).  Lake Braddock and Oakton beaten in the semis.

2012: AAA: Lake Braddock d Kellam 4-0. Lake Braddock lost to West Springfield in the regional title game but then blitzed to a state championship.

2011: AAA: Great Bridge d South County in the state final, giving the powerful South County its first and only loss on the season after starting the season 28-0.  Lake Braddock was the regional finalist and lost to Great Bridge in the state quarters.

2010: AAA: West Springfield d Woodbridge in the final, giving Woodbridge its only loss on the year. WT Woodson regional finalist.

Complete history of Virginia HS Champions: from VHSL’s website.  Covers all sports and has results for a century.  Lots of fun to dig through.

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Maryland

Here’s the state finals results in Maryland.  Brackets here at the MPSAA website.

• 4-A: 2016: Bel Air beat Quince Orchard 8-1.  2015: Gaithersburg beat Severna Park 5-3.  2014: Chesapeake beat Sherwood 2-0.  2013: South River defeated Catonsville 6-0.  2012: Northwest.  2011: Westminster.  2010: Sherwood
• 3-A: 2016: Huntington d Chesapeake-AA 4-3. .  2015: Chopticon beat Mt. Hebron 1-0.  2014: Reservoir beat North Harford 2-0.  2013: Bel Air defeated La Plata 3-2.  2012: Bennett.  2011: Bennett.  2010: C. Milton Wright.
• 2-A: 2016: La Plata eased by Williamsport 4-1.  2015: Southern beat Eastern Tech 6-1.  2014: Southern beat Parkside 3-2.  2013 : Catoctin defeated North Caroline, 4-2.  2012: Williamsport.  2011: North Caroline.  2010: North Hagerstown.
• 1-A: 2016: Brunswick beat Patterson Mill 4-0.  2015: Brunswick beat McDonough 4-0.  2014: Smithsburg beat Sparrows Point 9-0.  2013: Cambridge/South Dorchester defeated Allegany, 15-0.  2012: Mountain Ridge.  2011:  St. Michaels.  2010: St. Michaels.

A quick list of past Maryland State champions by division past what we have here.

The Maryland public high school seasons are now complete.

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DC Public Schools/DCIAA:

• DCIAA:  Wilson took its 24th consecutive DCIAA title with an 11-1 win over SWW.
• DCSAA:  St. Albans eased out a 2-1 victory over Maret to claim the DCSAA title.
  

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Private Leagues: WCAC/MAC/IAC and VISAA/Maryland Private

• MIAA: A: Spalding won their 3rd consecutive MIAA-A state title.  In the “B” division, Boys Latin defeated Severn.  And in the “C” division, St. Johns Catholic Prep got a 3rd straight title.
• VISAA: Division 1, Paul VI lost in the VISAA final to Richmond’s Collegiate.  In Division II, Greenbrier Christian cruised to the title as the #1 seed.  In Division III, #1 seed Southampton Academy also took the title.
• WCAC: St. Johns beat OLGC for their 3rd straight WCAC title.
• IAC: Landon outlasted Bullis for the IAC title.
• MAC: The Potomac School beat Maret for the MAC title.
  
• PVAC: Sandy Spring Friends beat St. Anselm’s for their 2nd consecutive PVAC title.
• Maryland Private School Tournament:  Riverdale Baptist defeated DeMatha 4-3.
  

All local area Private schools’ seasons are now complete.

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Individual Player Accolades Announced

In addition to being playoff-baseball time, this is also the time of the year that we start to see player awards.  I keep this as a running list as announcements are made before doing a final publication at the end of the year.

Gatorade announced their player of the year awards on 5/24/16.  (Link to all Gatorade/USA Today players of the year per state)

• Maryland: Spalding’s Tyler Blohm won the Maryland award.  Committed to Maryland.
• Washington DC: St. John’s Cam Remalia (by way of Waldorf, MD) won the DC award.  Committed (per PG) to Coastal Carolina.
• Virginia: Flint Hill’s Khalil Lee won the Virginia award.  Committed to Liberty but likely to get drafted early.

Pending Awards to be announced/expected later this spring:

• VISAA’s All-State teams, Division I, Division II and Division III.  Khalil Lee (Flint  Hill) is the Division 1 player of the year.  Harry Brown (Greenbrier Christian) is Division II player of the year.  Andrew Lowe (Southampton Academy) is Division III player of the year.
• Washington Post All-Met teams: Jake Agnos is the 2016 All-Met Player of the year.
• Meanwhile, here’s a fantastic list of all All-Met teams in all sports going back to 1991 that i’m spinning into a “where are they now” post to be done sometime in the future.
• Virginia All 6-A North Regional team: Jake Agnos, LHP Battlefield (ECU commit) is the Pitcher of the year, Jared DiCesare, Chantilly (George Mason commit) is the Player of the year.
• Virginia All 6-A South Regional team: Fox Semones, SS/RHP Hylton (James Madison commit) is the Player of the Year.
• Virginia All 5-A North Regional team: Alex Smith C from Mountain View (Navy commit) is player of the year.
• Virginia All 5-A South Regional team: Michael Blanchard, RHP Nansemond River (Old Dominion) is player of the year
• Virginia All 3-A East Region team: Noah Murdock, RHP from Colonial Heights (Virginia commit)  is the player of the year
• Other Virginia All-Regional teams: pending; sometimes hard to come by
• VHSL All-State Teams: pending release
• NovaBaseballMagazine.com has selected All conference teams for all the Northern Virginia-based conferences; click on the “Standings” link from their home page, navigate down to the division in question, and you’ll get the final 2016 conference standings, then the results of the conference tournament, and the all conference team.  I’m not sure if these are “official” all-district teams or if these are NBM’s staff selections.
• Louisville Slugger All-Americans: tba 6/12/16 eta
• Rawlings Perfect Game All-Americans:
• USA Today All-Americans: tba 6/10/16 eta
• Baseball America All-Americans: tbd
• The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Team (if exists)
• Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Richmond team (if exists)
• Virginian Pilot All-tidewater team (if exists)
• Maryland MIAA All-State teams

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My master list of links used to cover HS Baseball:

Local and National High School Baseball Ranking Lists: Updated for 5/23/16 in most cases.

• Washington Post All Met Sports Area top-10 ranking: Madison maintained #1 ranking most of the season but now Chantilly & Battlefield will lay claim.
• NovaBaseballMagazine.com Rankings: Madison and Chantilly have dominated the rankings all year, Battlefield, Kettle Run, Mountain View & Marshall there too.
• PrepBaseballReport maintains a VA State-Wide Power25 Rankings: Greenbrier Christian, Hanover, Liberty Christian and Chantilly leading the way.
• Baltimore Sun Top-10 Poll Archives: Perennial power Spalding has been at the top for a good chunk of the season.  Spalding, Chesapeake, Severna Park 1-2-3 in final 5/23/16 ranking.
• The Virginian Pilot Top-10 for Hampton Roads area: Private school powerhouse Greenbrier Christian, Grassfield and one-loss First Colonial 1-2-3 in final 5/31/16 poll.
• Richmond times-Dispatch Richmond-Area top-10: perennial 4-A power Hanover leads the way.
• UsaToday’s National High School “Expert” Rankings 5/25/16: Hanover comes in at #16, Spalding at #21.
• USAtoday’s National “Computer” Rankings 5/25/16: Just Hanover at #21.
• Baseball America Top 25: No local teams ranked.  Madison was in the pre-season list but quickly dropped out with its early season tourney losses.
• MaxPreps “Excellent 25” ranking: No local teams listed. Madison started #11
• MaxPreps “Excellent 50” rankings: No local teams listed.
• MaxPreps All-Virginia Rankings: Hanover, Grassfield 1-2, then 4-A Jamestown (maybe a bit high), then the two big private schools Greenbrier Christian and Liberty Christian.  Highest ranked 5-A team is Mountain View, so there’s your 6A/5A/4A favorites.

These National rankings are dominated by teams in Texas, Florida and California, as you might expect.  These teams can play nearly 40 games and usually have at least 15-20 under their belts before DC/MD/VA teams even get going.  So its somewhat of an accomplishment just to have a local team get some recognition.  In fact, any cold-weather state team appearing in these lists is pretty special.

Major Newspaper Links/Resources for following prep baseball around the state

• Washington Post’s AllMetSports section with standings and schedule results.
• The Baltimore Sun’s high school page has information on some of the programs outside the DC area mentioned in the Maryland section
• InsideNova.com‘s coverage of high school sports, but has put limits on the number of stories you can read.
• Richmond Times-Dispatch has a HS scoreboard.
• Hampton Roads Pilot (Hampton Roads) has scores for teams in the Chesapeake/Norfolk/Va Beach area.
• NovaBaseballMagazine: great coverage of Prep baseball in NorthernVirginia (thanks to Joe Antonellis for the heads up on this great new resource).

Local Newspaper Coverage, including links to many local papers covering smaller jurisdictions.

• The Connection family of newspapers has a sports section that is rarely updated, but it does do some coverage.
• Nvdaily.com (Strasburg) has some results for some of the teams in the smaller conferences/outskirts of DC, generally in the Strasburg area.
• WinchesterStar (Winchester) has results for Winchester teams but its pay-only.
• The Daily Progress (Culpeper local paper) also has some scores for schools in its areas.
• Fauquier Times (Fauquier) has some local sports news.
• VivaLoudoun tracks the Loudoun/Ashburn/Leesburg teams.
• The Loudoun Times also covers Leesburg-area teams.
• LoCosports blog, with tons of Loudoun county Coverage
• Fredericksburg.com has some local coverage of Fredericksburg and Woodbridge teams.
• The Lynchburg News & Advance for Lynchburg-based sports.
• The Virginia Gazette for Williamsburg local stuff.

Non-newspaper Links for Local and National Prep Baseball Coverage

• VHSL’s and MPSSAA home pages for updates on VA and MD respectively.
• DCIAA‘s website, which barely has a schedule but will eventually print results and playoff brackets
• PerfectGame: perfectgame.org is the best place to find HS prospect information.
• MaxPreps DC/VA specific coverage.
• Prep Baseball Report: DC/VA specific coverage
• Prep Baseball Report’s Database of College commitments for VA players (with pulldowns for other states and other grad  years).
• Dynamic Baseball: good prep coverage on the east coast.

Good Twitter accounts to follow:

• https://twitter.com/toddeboss/lists/prepbaseball: I maintain an open list at my twitter account via this link, which contains direct links to dozens of local resources (including all the below).  Way too many retweets from the travel team accounts especially, but its a good way to keep up with local ball.
• https://twitter.com/PBRVirginiaDC: Prep Baseball Report VA/DC coverage
• https://twitter.com/NVBaseballMag: NoVa Baseball Magazine
• https://twitter.com/NoVAHSBB
• https://twitter.com/DynamicBaseball