Nationals Arm Race

Thanks to Covid and to life, I havn’t covered High School baseball in this space in a while. We moved out of the DC area ahead of the 2019 season and we kind of lost track of the sport, especially when Covid basically cancelled the 2020 prep season.

However, I was spurred into action when I saw some coverage on Facebook about the HS tournament in Virginia, so I thought i’d do a quick wrap up. I’ve caught up the historical section of this post for 2019 and 2021 seasons (2020 was entirely cancelled), and now there’s a decent state-level history that includes posts i’ve made going back more than a decade.

So, here’s a recap of the 2022 Virginia High School baseball playoffs.

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Virginia.

Regional brackets are here, and State brackets are here. As a reminder, Virginia is divided into six Classes (Class 6-1, largest to smallest) and four Regions (which cover different portions of the state, based on the class), but teams compete locally based on geography as opposed to size. So, you may have teams from three different classes in the same local “District” but once the playoffs occur they’ll compete against like-sized teams.

Class 6-A

• Region 6A: #4 Manchester (14-9-1) and #2 Cosby (18-6-1) advanced with some upsets.
• Region 6B: #1 Colgan (25-2) gave #2 Freedom (20-2) a rare loss in the regional final, and the teams conspired to eliminate region powerhouses Battlefield, Potomac, and Patriot early.
• Region 6C: #1 Lake Braddock & #2 West Springfield continue to dominate Region 6C, which is comprised of mostly larger DC-area schools without much baseball pedigree (as compared to Region 6B and 6D).
• Region 6D: Two 3-seeds in Herndon and South Lakes, who play little league together, took out traditional powerhouses to advance to the state tournanent.

In the Class 6 state tournament, Freedom-South Riding advanced all the way to the final to face Herndon, and shocked the baseball world in getting their first known Baseball state title. I’m not sure Herndon has ever advanced that far either, having been outshined for years by its neighboring schools from Vienna and Leesburg.

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Class 5-A:

• Region 5A: Hickory took out Cox after upsetting #1 seed First Colonial to make states.
• Region 5B: Grandby also took a regional title after beating a #1 seed in Menchville, beating Nansemond River in the final
• Region 5C: Glen Allen beat Freeman in a very chalk-y regional
• Region 5D: Riverside beat Independence to take the title.

In the state tournament, Freeman took out Glen Allen in an all-Richmond state 5-A final. Freeman’s best ever finish before was the 5-A State final in 2014, while Glen Allen won the 2015 4-A title.

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Class 4-A:

• Region 4A: Two teams with losing records in Grafton and Warhill raced to the regional final. Fun fact; Grafton’s team is led by two brothers of a long-lost friend of mine and I followed along on Facebook their entire run.
• Region 4B: State powerhouse Hanover did not give up a run en route to the regional title over 10th seed Moncacan.
• Region 4C: Perhaps the smallest region in the state (it only features 4 total teams) came down to an all Winchester battle, with James Woods topping Millbrook
• Region 4D: Lynchburg powerhouse Jefferson Forest topped Roanoke’s Salem in the region final.

In the state tournament, Hanover won its three state games by a combined score of 34-3 to win the title over James Wood to reclaim the state 4-A title for the first time since 2016. Hanover has made seven state finals since 2009, while James Wood has not been this deep in a state tournament since 1985.

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Class 3-A:

• Region 3A: New Kent outlasted Lafayette to win the region.
• Region 3B: William Monroe took out Meredian (formerly known as George Mason HS in Falls Church)
• Region 3C: Lynchburg’s Liberty Christian Academy (LCA) won three games by the combined score of 37-3 to win the region, topping Spotswood in the final. I’m not entirely sure why LCA is still classified as a 3-A school; they where 4-A for a while after converting and had some great battles with Hanover (read below), but now run roughshod over the smaller 3-A schools in the state as a private school that can essentially “recruit” players.
• Region 3D: Abingdon defeated Christiansburg in the regional final.

In the state tournament, Liberty Christian took the final over Abingdon 6-5 to reclaim the state title it first won in 2017. Abington still seeks its first state baseball title; it was a state finalist in 2021 and in 2018 … and then way back in 1923.

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In the smaller divisions state tournaments:

• Class 2: Appomattox County (where the Civil war ended) defeated John Battle (Bristol) in the state final.
• Class 1: Rappahannock defeated Rappahannock County HS 1-0. Interestingly, these two schools are … no where near each other, with Rappahannock County HS being located in Washington VA (kind of inbetween Culpepper and Front Royal), while Rappahannock HS is closer to the eastern shore of Virginia in a town called Warsaw.

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In the VISAA divisions, Cape Henry topped the Miller school in Division I (the biggest), Highland took out last year’s champ Greenbriar Christian in Division II, and Walsingham Academy destroyed the competition to win Division III.

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Recent Virginia HS champs:  Virginia has Class 6 (largest) to Class 1 (smallest). We used to call them 6-A, 5-A, etc, but as of 2019 the VHSL seems to just go by “Class 6.”  Before 2014, we just AAA, AA and A.

2021: See this Maxpreps link for the 2021 State Baseball tournaments

• Class 6: Madison took out Lake Braddock and Colgan to return to the state championship.
• Class 5: Cox blasted both Godwin and Woodgrove to dominate the Class 5 tournament
• Class 4: Broad Run squeezed by powerhouse Hanover 3-2 to take the title.
• Class 3: Independence high school, a relatively new school in Ashburn, took a shock title over Abington (who had topped the powerhouse Liberty Christian in the semis)
• Class 2: Lebanon topped Poquoson 10-1 to take the crown.
• Class 1: Auburn topped Essex to repeat as state champs in Class 1-A.

VISAA private schools competition, Benedictine won Division 1, Greenbriar Christian took Division II, and Walsingham took Division III.

2020: Entire season cancelled due to Covid-19

2019: See this post for the 2019 State tourney wrap-up in this space.

• Class 6: Lake Braddock wins its first State title since 2012 6-2 over Westfield behind a huge day from All Met POTY Lyle Miller-Green‘s massive day at the plate.
• Class 5: Stafford held on to beat Mills Godwin 4-3.
• Class 4: Riverside literally “threw away” the game, losing on a 2-run error to Lafayette, completing an improbable run for the Williamsburg-based school.
• Class 3: Fluvanna County out-slugged Tabb 16-10 for the title.
• Class 2: Chatham beats Lebanon 23-5.
• Class 1: Auburn defeats Lancaster 9-0 for the title.

2018: See this post for the 2018 state tourney wrap-up

• In 6-A, West Springfield blew open the game late to defeat Western Branch 12-2 to take their first title since 2010.  Thomas Dale, Lake Braddock semis.
• In 5-A, Prince George beats Potomac 8-0.  Freedom-South Riding, Deep Run semis.
• In 4-A, Salem walked-off against Jamestown to win their first state title 2-1.  Grafton, Fauquier semis.
• In the smaller classifications, Spotsylvania won 3-A, Page County won 2-A and Riverheads won 1-A.

2017: See this post for 2017’s state tournament wrap-up for all 6 divisions

• In 6-A, Western Branch d Cox 6-4.  Oakton, Patriot semis.
• In 5-A, Briar Woods d Halifax 5-4 in 14 innings.  Menchville and Prince George semi-finalists.
• In 4-A, Liberty Christian Academy d Hanover 8-5.  Harrisonburg, Great Bridge semi-finalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Turner Ashby won 3-A, Dan River won 2-A and Auburn won 1-A.

2016: See this post for 2016’s state tournament wrap-up for all 6 divisions

• In 6-A, Chantilly d Battlefield 3-2.  Hylton & Cosby state semis.
• In 5-A, Nansemond River defeated Mountain View 5-3.  Potomac, Mills Godwin semi finalists.
• In 4-A, Hanover d Liberty Christian Academy 13-12.  Jamestown, Kettle Run semi finalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Rustberg repeated 3-A, Maggie Walker won in 2-A and Rappahannock won 1-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. note: consider the accomplishment of Hanover here: they won the “AAA” title, then were reclassified to 4-A in 2014, competing fully two size-levels below most of the competition they were beating out in 2013 and prior.

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. Go to https://www.vhsl.org/forms/, then click on Record book. Covers all sports and has results for a century.  Lots of fun to dig through.  Note: if this link fails, its because VHSL has moved it yet again; I have an updated copy of the history books in PDF format if you’re interested.

 

Last post covering local baseball for 2019; this one tries to summarize all the various “Player of the Year” announcements from various shops, both local and national.

I kind of ran out of gas on this one; fighting through a dozen different paywalls and I never could find the official announcements of Virginia regional all-player lists.   But this is still a pretty good summary of the various POTY lists.

 

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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’ll put these in as they publish, but we won’t expect most of these until the end of June.

National Lists and State breakouts as available.

• Gatorade Player of the year awards.  National POTY was Bobby Witt Jr., drafted 2nd overall in the 2019 baseball draft.
  • Maryland:  Jack Bulger, Jr. C from DeMatha.  Early commit to Vanderbilt.
  • Washington DC: Collin Bosley-Smith, Jr. RHP from Wilson.   Early commit to Duke.
  • Virginia: Nate Savino, Jr. LHP from Potomac Falls.  Early commit to UVA.

• MaxPreps High School All-Americans: Bobby Witt Jr. National POTY.   Local players: Jack Bulger (DeMatha), Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock named to 2nd team.
• Baseball America High School All-Americans: no POTY declared.  No local players on 1st, 2nd or 3rd teams.
• USA Today/American Family All-USA teams: Bobby Witt Jr. National POTY.  Local players: Jack Bulger (DeMatha) named to 1st team, Brett Cook from Benedictine 2nd team.  Jamari Baylor HM.
• American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings 2019 High School All Americans:  Bobby Witt named POTY.  local players Jack Bulger C DeMatha and Joe Clancy RHP Westfields named to 3rd team.
  • (Index of all ABCA/Rawlings all-american lists, High School and College, dating to 1949 (!) is at this link, and all POTYs for all levels historically at this link).
• Collegiate Baseball High School All-Americans: Bobby Witt Jr. National POTY.   Local players on 1st team: Jose Torres, SS Calvert Hall HS in Baltimore (NC State commit.).  2nd team: Jack Bulger (DeMatha), Parker Landwehr C Calvert Hall (Boston College commit).
• Perfectgame.org/Rawlings All-Americans: (unclear if they’re still doing these lists).
  • Maryland:
  • Washington DC:
  • Virginia:
• PrepBaseballReport; Brett Bady national POTY.  12th overall pick by NY Mets.
  • All Maryland Team: Ryan Calvert, RHP/1B from LaPlata HS POTY as a junior.
  • All Virginia/DC Team:  Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock POTY.  George Mason commit.

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DC/MD/VA Local

• Washington Post All-Met team 2019: Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock POTY.  George Mason commit.
  • (here’s a great list of every All-Met team named since 1990 in all sports; fantastic resource for local prep sports fans).
• The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Team: Jose Torres, SS Calvert Hall HS in Baltimore.  NC State commit.
• Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro Team: (behind a paywall)
• Virginian Pilot All-Tidewater team: Mason Dunaway, SS Hickory is POTY.  JMU commit.
• Virginia Class 6 All Region Teams
  • Region A (Tidewater) All Regional team:
  • Region B (Richmond) All Regional team:
  • Region C (Northern VA, inner suburbs) All-Regional team: Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock POTY.  George Mason commit.
  • Region D (Northern VA, Western Suburbs) All Regional team: Zach Agnos, RHP from Battlefield HS POTY.  ECU commit like his brother ahead of him.
• Virginia Class 5 All Region Teams
  • Region A (Tidewater area) All-Regional team:
  • Region B (Richmond) All Regional team:
  • Region C (Northern VA) All Regional team: Ben Williamson, SS Freedom-South Riding.  William & Mary commit.
  • Region D (Northwest and Western VA) All Regional team: Drew Harlow, RHP/SS Halifax county POTY.  Undecided/no commit as of 6/8/19
• Virginia Class 4 All Region Teams
  • Region A (Tidewater area) All-Regional team:
  • Region B (Richmond) All Regional team:
  • Region C (Northern VA) All Regional team: Joe Vogatsky, jr RHP/3B from Kettle Run HS POTY.   early commit to JMU.
  • Region D (Northwest and Western VA) All Regional team:
• Other Virginia All-Regional teams: harder to come by:
  • Class 3 Region B (Culpepper/Warrenton area) All Regional team: Jake (Jakob) Dudley, 1B/3B from Culpeper County HS is POTY.  No college listed.
  • Class 2 Region B (NorthWest VA) all Region Team:  T.R. Williams, Sophomore RHP from Page County POTY.
• Northern Virginia All-District teams:

• NovaBaseballMagazine Nova Nine top 100 list: Joey Kamide‘s top 100 players from the 85 high schools in the NoVa coverage area.
• NovaBaseballMagazine Nova Nine:  Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock POTY.  George Mason commit.
• VHSL All-State Teams: all 6 teams available from this link.
  • 6-A: Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock POTY.  George Mason commit.
  • 5-A: Michael Tolson RHP/oF from Stafford POTY.   Western Carolina U commit.
  • 4-A: Quade Tomlin, SS jr from Liberty Christian Academy POTY.  Liberty U commit.
  • 3-A: Jacob Critzer, C Fluvana County HS POTY.    No college commitment known.
  • 2-A: Andrew Potojecki, RHP Chatham HS (Danville) POTY.  Longwood College commit.
  • 1-A: Matthew Kleinfelter, RHP Lancaster HS POTY.   JMU commit.
• VISAA’s All-State teams
  • Division III All State Team: Tanner Schobel, SS Walsingham Academy  (Williamsburg) POTY as Junior.  Early Virginia Tech commit.
  • Division II All State Team: Jeremy Wagner, OF/RHP from the Miller School (Albemarle) POTY as Junior.  Early Austin Peay commit.
  • Division I All State Team: Aiden Kuhle, RHP/1B from Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach) POTY.  Roanoke College commit.
• Maryland All-MIAA All-State teams:
  • MIAA A division: behind a paywall
  • MIAA B division: behind a paywall
  • MIAA C division: behind a paywall
• Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches (MSABC) All-Maryland teams: four regional all-star teams picked for exhibitions.
  • here’s a great history of the MSABC games, including past rosters.
• Maryland Brooks Robinson All-Star game rosters
• Anne-Arundel County All-Baseball team: unknown
• Montgomery County All-Baseball Team: unknown
• All Baltimore-City Baseball team: behind a paywall
• All Fredericksburg Baseball team:  Michael Tolson RHP/oF from Stafford POTY.   Western Carolina U commit.
• All WCAC: unknown
• All IAC: unknown
• All MAC: unknown

If I missed an award, or if you know of something I don’t, don’t hesitate to post.

 

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Past awards that no longer seem to be in existence:

• Louisville Slugger All-Americans: last awarded in 2016.
• National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) POTY: last awarded in 2017.
• Under Armor All-Americans: perhaps there used to be selections, but now there’d just a game mid-July of mostly rising senior all stars.
• USA Today/American Family All-State Teams and POTYs: stopped doing state-level all-state baseball teams for 2019.

Welcome to my DC Area Prep Baseball Tourney coverage for 2019.   We kind of got pressed for time this year, so we’re summarizing at the finish of all the area regional and state championships this year all in one post instead of spreading it among 3-4 different posts like we’ve done in the past.

This post summarizes the State championships for DC, MD and VA, highlighting the regional champs, and reports on the winners of the various big-time private school conferences.

 

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Virginia

All state brackets available from this link at VHSL, and the regional brackets are here.  In 2019, The state semis/finals got pushed a week across the board due to weather.  This gave pitching-weak teams a distinct advantage versus having to win a 3-games-in-5 days format.  All finals were on Friday 6/14/19.

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Class 6 State Finals:  thanks to NovaBaseballmagazine.com’s coverage of Class 6 Regionals.  State Class 6 Bracket.  Records entering the state tourney.

• Region 6A: #1 Ocean Lakes (17-6), #2 Cox (18-5).  Ocean Lakes wins the region as 5th seed, #1 seed Grandby upset first round.
• Region 6B: #1 James River (19-3), #2 Colonial Forge (16-8).  Top seeds Cosby and Thomas Dale both upset first round.
• Region 6C: #1 Lake Braddock (23-3), #2 West Springfield (14-11).   Region final a rematch of the district final; a very weak Region this year (only 7 teams even with winning records).
• Region 6D: #1 Westfield (22-3), #2 Centreville (18-8); Region final a rematch of the district final.

Class 6 State Quarters results:  All four regional champs advanced in close games on 6/4/19. Westfield ended West Springfield’s attempts to repeat as State Champs 5-4 in walk-off fashion.  Ocean Lakes took out Colonial Forge 2-0.  Lake Braddock held off Centreville 5-4, scoring 5 in the first and making them stick, and James River beat Cox 4-3.

Class 6 State Semis: Both Northern Virginia teams advanced to the final; Lake Braddock taking out James River 9-6, and Westfield taking out Ocean Lakes 9-7.

Class 6 State Final: Lake Braddock wins its first State title since 2012 6-2 over Westfield behind a huge day from All Met POTY Lyle Miller-Green‘s massive day at the plate.

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Class 5 State Finals:  thanks to NovaBaseballmagazine.com’s coverage of Class 5 Regionals.  Class 5 State Bracket.  Records entering the state tourney.

• Region 5A: #1 Hickory (22-1), #2 Menchville (19-4).  #2 seed one-loss Hampton upset early, but dominant Hickory holds serve as one of the best teams in the state.
• Region 5B: #1 Mills Godwin (19-3), #2 Prince George (19-3):  Regional final cancelled; #1 Mills Godwin given title.
• Region 5C: #1 Stone Bridge (16-9), #2 Broad Run (16-9): Stone Bridge upset both its higher-seeded district rivals to win Region.
• Region 5D: #1 Stafford (21-3), #2 Halifax (22-3).   Huge upset of #1 seed Potomac clears path for Stafford to take regional title.

Class 5 State Quarters results: One upset in the State Quarters.  Halifax destroyed Stone Bridge 11-0 to advance.  The other regional champs all went through: Stafford blanked Broad Run 5-0.  Hickory squeaked by Prince George 3-1 to end their chances to repeat as State champs.  And Mills Godwin blanked Menchville 5-0.

Class 5 State Semis Results: Stafford walked-off Hickory in a crazy 11-10 game, while Mills Godwin walked-off Halifax in the other 5-4 to advance to the state title game.

Class 5 State Final: Stafford held on to beat Mills Godwin 4-3.

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Class 4 State Finals: thanks to NovaBaseballmagazine.com’s coverage of Class 4 Regionals.  Class 4 State Bracket.  Records entering the state tourney.

• Region 4A: #1 Lafayette (16-7), #2 Great Bridge (18-6); Lafayette beat top seed and defending regional champ Grafton en route to the upset title.
• Region 4B: #1 Hanover (19-2), #2 Midlothian (15-7); Hanover cruised to title as #1 seed, looking to get back to the state final for the 3rd time in 4 years.  Midlothian makes the state tourney for the 1st time since 2005.
• Region 4C: #1 Riverside (16-7), #2 Kettle Run (15-9): There’s only 4 teams in Region 4C: Riverside Beat the 19-3 Sherando en route to the title.
• Region 4D: #1 Liberty Christian Academy (24-1), #2 Salem (18-5); LCA does not slip up this year, cruising to title as #1 seed.

Class 4 State Quarters results:  Just one upset in the quarters, with Great Bridge downing Hanover 7-4 in a rematch of the 2014 AAA state championship.  Liberty Christian destroyed Kettle Run 11-0.    Lafayette blanked Midlothian 8-0.  Riverside beat Salem easily 9-3.

Class 4 State Semis Results: Lafayette continued its upsetting ways, taking out one of the top teams in the state in Liberty Christian 8-2, while Riverside blanked Great Bridge 3-0 to advance to the state title game for the 2nd time in 3 years.

Class 4 State Final: Riverside literally “threw away” the game, losing on a 2-run error to Lafayette, completing an improable run for the Williamsburg-based school.

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Class 3 State Finals: thanks to NovaBaseballmagazine.com’s coverage of Class 3 Regionals.  Class 3 State Bracket.  Records entering the state tourney.

• Region 3A: #1 Tabb (19-3), #2 Park View-South Hill (22-2): #1/#2 seeds of the regi0n advance.
• Region 3B: #1 Brentsville District (20-3), #2 Warren County (16-6): Region goes chalk, #1 over #2 in final.
• Region 3C: #1 Fluvanna County (20-3), #2 Brookville (18-8): #1 seed Fluvanna County holds serve.
• Region 3D: #1 Lord Botetourt (15-8), #2 Abingdon (22-3); Lord Botetourt wins region as #6 seed over top-seeded Abingdon.

Class 3 State Quarters results:  Just one upset in the quarters, with Brookville beating Lord Botetourt 6-2.  Tabb beat Warren County 7-5, Fluvanna eased past Abington 1-0, and Brentsville squeaked past Park View 5-4.

Class 3 State Semis Results: Tabb over Brookeville 4-3, Fluvanna over Prince William County’s Brentsville 5-4.

Class 3 State Final: Fluvanna County out-slugged Tabb 16-10 for the title.

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Smaller Classifications: Class 2 State Bracket and Class 1 State Bracket

• Class 2 State Quarter finalists: King William, Stuarts Draft, Chatham, Lebanon as region winners, Nandua, Page County (defending state champ), Appomattox County and John Battle as regional runners-up.
• Class 2 State Semi finalists: Lebanon over Page County, Chatham over Stuarts Draft.
• Class 2 State Final: Chatham beats Lebanon 23-5.

• Class 1 State Quarter finalists: Lancaster, Riverheads (defending state champ), Auburn (2017 state champ), Patrick Henry-Glade spring region winners, Colonial Beach, William Campbell (2015 state champ), Galax, Chilhowie as regional runners-up.
• Class 1 State Semi finalists:  Lancaster over Patrick Henry , Auburn over Riverheads (all four regional champs won in the quarters)
• Class 1 State Final: Auburn defeats Lancaster 9-0 for the title.

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Recent Virginia HS champs:  Virginia has Class 1-A through Class 6-A  Before 2014, we just AAA, AA and A.

2018: See this post for the 2018 state tourney wrap-up

• In 6-A, West Springfield blew open the game late to defeat Western Branch 12-2 to take their first title since 2010.  Thomas Dale, Lake Braddock semis.
• In 5-A, Prince George beats Potomac 8-0.  Freedom-South Riding, Deep Run semis.
• In 4-A, Salem walked-off against Jamestown to win their first state title 2-1.  Grafton, Fauquier semis.
• In the smaller classifications, Spotsylvania won 3-A, Page County won 2-A and Riverheads won 1-A.

2017: See this post for 2017’s state tournament wrap-up for all 6 divisions

• In 6-A, Western Branch d Cox 6-4.  Oakton, Patriot semis.
• In 5-A, Briar Woods d Halifax 5-4 in 14 innings.  Menchville and Prince George semi-finalists.
• In 4-A, Liberty Christian Academy d Hanover 8-5.  Harrisonburg, Great Bridge semi-finalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Turner Ashby won 3-A, Dan River won 2-A and Auburn won 1-A.

2016: See this post for 2016’s state tournament wrap-up for all 6 divisions

• In 6-A, Chantilly d Battlefield 3-2.  Hylton & Cosby state semis.
• In 5-A, Nansemond River defeated Mountain View 5-3.  Potomac, Mills Godwin semi finalists.
• In 4-A, Hanover d Liberty Christian Academy 13-12.  Jamestown, Kettle Run semi finalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Rustberg repeated 3-A, Maggie Walker won in 2-A and Rappahannock won 1-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.  Note: if this link fails, its because VHSL has moved it yet again; I have an updated copy of the history books in PDF format if you’re interested.

 

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Maryland

Full Brackets here at the MPSAA website and direct links to the four State-wide brackets are linked directly below.  Here’s your 2019 champs.

• Maryland 4-A: Regional champs Eleanor Roosevelt (undefeated entering playoffs), Sherwood, Old Mill and Walt Whitman are regional champs.  Sherwood and Old Mill in the final, and Old Mill wins the state title in 9 innings, giving Sherwood only its 2nd loss of the year.
• Maryland 3-A: Regional champs Northern, Milton Wright, J.M. Bennett, and defending state champ Thomas Johnson are regional champs.    J.M. Bennett beats C. Milton Wright in the final.
• Maryland 2-A: Regional champs La Plata, Hereford (both defending regional champs), Fallston, Middletown.  LaPlata beats Middletown in its 3rd state final in four years.
• Maryland 1-A: Regional champs McDonough, Randallstown, Col. Richardson and Boonsboro (McDonough and Boonsboro repeat as regional champs).  In the final, Col. Richardson beats McDonough in 9 innings.

A quick list of past Maryland State champions by division:

• 4-A: 2018: Howard over Severna Park 5-4.  2017: Northwest blanked Howard 8-0 .  2016: Bel Air beat Quice 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: 2018: Thomas Johnson over Huntington.  2017: Poolesville outlasted Chesapeake-Anne Arundel 4-3.  2016: Huntington beat Chesapeake 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: 2018: Century held off La Plata for the state title.  2017: Middletown beat Fallston 8-0.  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: 2018: Boonsboro over St. Michaels.  2017: St. Michaels destroyed Boonsboro 12-1 .  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.

 

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DC

• DCIAA: (2019 playoff bracket): Wilson won its 27th consecutive DCIAA championship over School without Walls.   They also went undefeated, again, in DCIAA regular season play.
• DCSAA: (2019 Playoff Bracket): St. Johns vs Wilson in the final.  There, St. Johns beat Wilson 1-0 to secure the DC “State” title.

Past DC Winners:

• 2018: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = Wilson.
• 2017: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = Gonzaga
• 2016: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = St. Albans
• 2015: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = Gonzaga
• 2014: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = St. Johns
• 2013 and prior: Wilson hasn’t lost in the DCIAA in 20 years … finding DCSAA tourney winners on google is tough.

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

State-level Private School tourneys 2019 results.

• MIAA: All 2019 regular season standings here, and all playoff brackets here.
  • Division A: Calvert Hall regular season champ.   Calvert Hall over Gilman for the Division A playoff title.
  • Division B: Glenelg Country regular season champ.  Gerstell over Boy’s Latin for the Division B  playoff title, coming back from the loser’s bracket to win it.
  • Division C: Concordia Prep regular season champ.   Concordia Prep over Indian Creek in 12 innings for the Division C playoff title.
  • This link at MIAA has the 2019 playoff brackets AND a historical list of all MIAA champs by division dating to 1995.  I’ve got a screen shot just in case it disappears in the future.
• VISAA:
  • Division I:  Local teams participating included #9 Paul VI, #4 O’Connell, #6 Episcopal, and #7 Flint Hill.  None advanced, as the VISAA Division I tournament was dominated by Richmond teams.  In the end, nationally ranked and #1 seed Benedictine won the Division I title over  #2. St. Christophers.
  • Division II: #1 seed The Miller School runs away with the title.
  • Division III:  #1 seed Walsingham Academy wins the state title.
• Maryland Private School Tournament; (unsure this event happens any more)

DC-area Private School Leagues results for 2019:

• WCAC: St. Johns regular season champion (13-0).  In the playoff finals, St. Johns destroyed DeMatha 10-0 and 9-1 to win the WCAC playoffs title for the 6th consecutive time.
• MAC (Mid-Atlantic Conference): St. James beats Flint Hill in the final.
  
• IAC: Georgetown Prep swept St. Albans for the IAC title, finishing 31-5 on the year.
• PVAC: (difficult to find information).

A side-note: DC private school baseball power house Riverdale Baptist did not field a Varsity team in 2019 after its coach took a college job, it lost a ton of senior talent and the rest of the remaining seniors all transferred to play for more competitive teams.  For a team that was nationally ranked in 2018, its kind of jarring not to be talking about them in a DC-area prep story.  Lets hope the new coach can get the program back on track.

 

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Local and National High School Baseball Ranking Lists: highlighting where local teams ended up.

• Washington Post All Met Sports Area top-10 ranking (5/20/19): St. Johns the clear #1 team in the area, winning WCAC, DCSAA titles.
• NovaBaseballMagazine.com Rankings: (5/28/19): NoVa Class 6 regional champs Westfields and Lake Braddock 1-2 in the rankings.
• VISAA maintains Private school polls/rankings (5/6/19): The two Division 1 finalists are 1-2 in the Division 1 poll.  The two teams who won Division II and III also #1 in their respective polls.
• PrepBaseballReport maintains a VA State-Wide Power25 Rankings (5/20/19): St. Johns, LCA and Benedictine are top 3 teams.
• Baltimore Sun Top-10 Poll Archives: (April 2019): looks like they weren’t very well kept up, but MIAA Division 1 power Calvert Hall listed as #1 Baltimore area team.
• The Virginian Pilot Top-10 for Hampton Roads area: (3/18/19): Hickory named as top team in area.
• Richmond times-Dispatch”804 Varsity” used to have rankings.
• Baseball America’s National High School Rankings: (5/21/19): Benedictine #17 in the nation.
• USA Today High School Experts top 25: (5/26/19) Benedictine #9 in the nation, St. Johns #13.
• MaxPreps “Excellent 50” ranking: Benedictine #24.

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.

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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 (thanks again to Joe Antonellis for this link)
• 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

(Initially published in 2019, updated several times to bring uptodate to 2024 All-Met Team).

As a guy who tracks local high school baseball players, one of the most anticipated annual posts I wait for is the Washington Post’s All Met baseball team.  A couple years back, I stumbled across a historical link at allmetsports.com; a link to every All-Met team for all sports going back to the early 1990s.

So I decided to do a big research project; what happened to all the All-Met Baseball Players of the year for each year?  It was a bit tough to back beyond 1990 (heck, I graduated in 1989 and cannot remember or find the link to the All Met player of the year my graduating year), but going forward here’s how all these players turned out:

I wrote the bulk of this post in 2018 and 2019, then forgot about it, but i’ve resurrected it with the announcement in 2023 that Bryce Eldridge of my alma mater Madison HS has been named the 2023 All-Met Player of the year.  No better time than now to update this post and catch it up for the last decade or so of players.  I’ve reversed this chronologically so it reads from 2023 backwards.

Player links are to milb.com, baseball-reference.com, college sites, or some other reference site.

• 2024: Aiden Dubetsky, SS/RHP for Georgetown Prep.  0.55 ERA, hit .400 for the season, threw a no-hitter in the IAC title game.  Amherst College signee.  Other All-Met’s of note in 2024: Griffin Burkholder, OF, Freedom (South Riding): the area’s top draft prospect, projecting to go late 1st/early 2nd.  Henry Zatkowski, utility, Sr., River Hill is a Duke commit, and Myles Upchurch, utility, Jr., St. Albans, an early commit to Alabama as a Junior All-Met 1st team.
• 2023: Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP for Madison HS.  Led school to 6-A title, All-American, projected as a 1st round pick. Gatorade VA State POTY. Alabama commit drafted 15th overall by the San Francisco Giants.  Signed, now playing for SF’s rookie affiliate.  Other all Met’s of note: Jonny Farmelo of Westfield was also a 1st rounder and went toe-to-toe with Eldridge all year.  Ryan Marohn is committed to pitch for NC State.  Bryson Moore is headed to UVA to join their long-history of DC-area recruited arms.
• 2022: Amari Allen, junior two-way player for Sherwood HS.  Somehow, he was “just” a 2nd team all-met in 2023 despite his HS team winning the Maryland 4-A title for the 3rd year in a row.  Chipola College JC committed after his 2023 graduation.  Other All Met’s of note: Nick Morabito, son of 1989 All-Met Brian Morabito (who I played against at various points growing up and went to JMU with) was a 2nd round pick by the Mets and just got promoted to Low-A mid-2023.  He was the sole DC-area prep player to get drafted out of HS in 2022..  Jack O’Conner went to UVA and was their mid-week starter all year in 2023, going 6-3 with a 3.86 ERA as a freshman.
• 2021: No All Met team done by WP.  Weird.  They did all-Met teams for other sports, but not for Baseball this year, which was definitely competed (Madison won the 6-A title).  Probably would have been James Triantos (who graduated a year early and was picked in the 2nd round in 2021) or Jackson Merrill, who went in the 1st round out of Severna Park HS.
• 2020: Covid: no baseball and no all-Met team.  Likely would have been Jack Bulger, who was a multi-time all-Met and a Vanderbilt scholarship player.
• 2019: Lyle Miller-Green, RHP/1B from Lake Braddock POTY.  George Mason commit initially and went Undrafted in 2019.  Miller-Green transferred out of Mason after one year, sat out 2021, went to Oklahoma State for 2022, barely played, transferred again for 2023 to Austin Peay, where he led the team in hitting AND made 13 starts with a 2.00 ERA.  He’s in the Cape in 2023 after his technically “junior season” and may be looking to get drafted.  Other all-Mets of note: Zach Agnos, brother of Jake, also went to ECU like his brother and was a 2022 10th round pick by Colorado.  He’s in their high-A bullpen for 2023.  Jack Bulger was an all-Met as a junior, has been a 3-year starter at Vanderbilt and is in his draft year in 2023.  Marcus Lee Sang was drafted out of HS in the 11th round by Philadelphia and currently sits in high-A.  Nate Savino was Gatorade VA State POTY, went to UVA, had a stellar career and was a 3rd rounder in 2022 by Arizona.  He’s yet to pitch a minor league game though; full season injury in 2023.  James Triantos was an all Met as a *freshman* (!!), became a 2nd round pick  in 2021 by the Cubs, and currently is in high-A as a 20yr old.
• 2018: Kody Milton, MIF Severna Park.  4-year starter committed to UMaryland but did not get drafted.  Played one year at Maryland and transferred to the Naval Academy.  He has no college stats past 2021 and may be out of the sport.  No DC area player was drafted out of HS in 2018.  Other All Mets of note: Patrick Halligan went to Pensacola State JC, was drafted in 2021 by the Royals and is a swing-man for their High-A team in 2023.  Corey Rosier went to Chipola, then UNC-Greensboro and was a 12th round pick by Seattle in 2021.  He’s currently raking in AA and looks like a prospect.
• 2017: Harold Cortijo, RHP/OF from Riverdale Baptist.  Drafted in the 14th round by the New York Yankees and signed; there’s no evidence he signed for anything more than the $125k slot figure for post 10th round signings.  Pitched in relief for the GCL Yankees in 2017, then had a 2.63 ERA starting 10 games for the Short-A Yankees affiliate in 2018.  He remains in the Yankees system in 2023, pitching in the high-A bullpen.  Other All Mets of note: Kyle Whitten went to UVA, was an NDFA in 2021 after graduating, and is now holding his own in the Tampa high-A bullpen.  Trendon Craig went to Juco and was a 20th round pick in 2021 by Baltimore; he’s on their low-A team for 2023.
• 2016: Jake Agnos, LHP from Battlefield.  2-time All-Met.  ECU commit, went undrafted out of HS.  In two seasons for Battlefield, he was 18-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 265 strikeouts in 134 1/3rds innings.   That’s a K/9 rate of more than 17 strikeouts.   Agnos started 10 games for ECU his freshman year, 14 his sophomore year with a 4.10 ERA).  In 2019, he was a 4th round pick by the Yankees after a stellar 11-3 season for the ranked ECU team that advanced to a Super Regional.  He pitched briefly in his draft year of 2019, missed 2020, and has been injured basically ever since.  For 2023 he’s on the High-A Tampa full-season injured list.  Other All-Mets of Note: Joe Rizzo, 2-time All-Met drafted in 2nd round and played all of 2018 in High-A for Seattle’s affiliate in Modesto, hitting .241 as a 20-yr old.  He’s a well regarded prospect and is in AAA for 2023.  Khalil Lee was Gatorade VA State POTY, drafted in 3rd round by Kansas City and has shot up the ranks, finishing 2018 in AA and is now considered one of the best prospects in Kansas City’s entire system.  However in 2023 he was suspended for a Domestic Violence issue, which may derail his career entirely.  The Mets released him out of AAA and he’s currently playing Indy ball.  Conor Grammes was a little-known hurler for McLean HS, went to Xavier, found an upper 90’s fastball and was a 5th round pick in 2019.  He’s in AA for 2023.  Useless personal anecdote: I used to play tournament racquetball with Conor’s father back in the late 1990s.  A note on this year: Agnos more than earned his All-Met POTY award above these two players for their 2016 production, but it seems crazy not to have recognized Rizzo’s accomplishments in either 2015 or 2016.  Especially in 2015 when he hit above .500 in his HS season.
• 2015: A.J. Lee, RHP/SS from St. Johns, 2-time All-Met.  Starting infielder for U Maryland; hit .232 in his junior season in 2018 and was not drafted.  After he graduated in 2019, the Astros made him a 34th round pick and he signed.  He played a few seasons in Houston’s low-minors and was released in Aug 2022.  Other All-Mets of Note: Ljay Newsome, 26th round pick of Seattle, started 26 games for Seattle’s high-A Modesto team in 2018, currently on the DL for SF’s AAA team in 2023, Cody Morris, a 3-time All-met who had to have Tommy John but still got his South Carolina scholarship honored and was their Friday starter in 2018,  a 7th round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2018, and who debuted in the majors in 2022,  Nate Eikhoff (played at UVA but did not go pro), Jack DeGroat (Liberty’s Ace for three years, Cleveland’s 11th round pick in 2018 draft, played a few years and then retired in Jan 2023).
• 2014: J.B. Bukauskas, RHP from Stone Bridge who skipped a year of HS and enrolled at UNC.  He was Gatorade Player of the Year and a BA 1st team All-American.  He’s was UNC’s Saturday starter as a sophomore, was on the USA Collegiate All-America team and was projecting as a possible top 10 pick in the 2017 draft before one bad outing in the conference tournament dropped him to the 15th pick, where Houston snapped him up.  In 2018 he missed significant time but did get promoted up to AA.  By 2019 he was one of the top prospects in the minors for one of the best teams in the league, but he struggled in AA.  This led to his missing the entire 2020 season.  Since, he’s bounced between AAA and the Majors for Seattle, kind of settling into a 4-A type guy.  Other All-Mets of note: Nick Wells, 2nd team BA all american, 3rd round pick.  Bounced around Seattle’s system, then Washington traded for him in May 2019.   He played for our system for years, finally getting cut loose in 2021.  He’s in indy ball now, Tommy Doyle, from Flint Hill, who has was UVA’s Sunday starter/closer in 2017, was a Supp-B round pick in 2017 and finished 2018 as the closer in Full-season A-ball for Colorado’s system.  He debuted for Colorado in the Covid 2020 season then didn’t get back until 2023, where he now sits in the bullpen.
• 2013: Scott Mitchell, rhp from South River.  Committed to Radford per the allmetsports.com link, but does not look like he ever made it there.  He had a heart condition discovered while in HS, and I wonder if that’s impacted his future.  Current status: completely unknown.  Other all-Mets of note from 2013: J.B. Bukauskas and Cody Morris; both sophomores making All-Met, which is pretty amazing,  See 2014-15 for more.  Matthew McPhearson. 4th round draft pick by Arizona out of Riverdale Baptist, made it to Low-A in 2018 but was released in Jan 2019, Alec Grosser (who signed an over-slot 11th round deal with Atlanta, got traded to the Dodgers in 2015, then was released in June 2016 and never re-signed).
• 2012: Josh Sborz, RHP from McLean.  Went to UVA, was UVA’s “super reliever” who basically won the 2015 CWS for them.  2nd round pick by the Dodgers.  In 2018 got to AAA, then was added to LAD’s 40-man prior to Rule-5 draft.  He starred for the Dodgers bullpen for a couple of seasons, then got flipped to Texas ahead of the 2021 season.  He’s now in his 3rd season in the Texas bullpen and is excelling in 2023. Other All-Mets of note: Kevin Doherty (who pitched out of UVA’s bullpen but was not drafted), Josh Hader (Baltimore 19th rounder who got traded to Houston, then to Milwaukee, where he exploded onto the scene in 2018, getting selected to the NL All Star Team).
• 2011: Kenny Towns, SS/2B from Lake Braddock.  Went to UVA, played four seasons and was a 20th round pick by the Angels in 2015.  He was released in June of 2016 and retired.  Other All-mets of note: Evan Beal (South Carolina, 21st round pick of KC, spent all of 2018 in Miami’s XST). Josh Sborz (see 2012), Nick Howard (2014 1st round pick out of UVA, spent 2018 in Cincinnati’s AA team as a middle reliever).
• 2010: Bobby Wahl, RHP from West Springfield.  Went to Ole Miss, was a 5th round pick in 2013 by by Oakland.  In 2018, Wahl got flipped to NY Mets, who selected him and gave him his debut in 2018.  He had limited MLB appearances in 2018 and 2020, pitched entirely in the minors in 2021 and 2022 and then was released by the Dodgers in July 2022 after getting shelled in AAA.  Seems retired.  Other All-Mets of note from 2010: none.
• 2009: Matthew Bowman, RHP/SS from St. Albans.  Went to Princeton, was drafted in the 13th round in 2012 by the Mets.   In 2016, the St. Louis Cardinals selected him in the Rule-5 draft from the Mets and he was holding his own in the Cardinals bullpen through 2018, pitching as an 8th inning guy.    After 2019, he missed a few seasons due to injury, and is back in AAA for 2023 with the Yankees.  Other All-Mets of note from 2009: Branden Kline (2nd round pick in 2012 from UVA, with Baltimore’s AA Bowie as of 2018, and was added to Baltimore’s 40-man roster ahead of the 2018 Rule-5 draft).
• 2008: Danny Hultzen, LHP from St. Albans.  As we well know, he went to UVA, was the 2nd overall pick in the 2011 draft by Seattle (matching a historical high draft pick for a DC-area native, tied with Jay Franklin, drafted 2nd overall in the 1971 draft by San Diego out of Madison HS in Vienna).  Hultzen threw 124 innings in 2012 but just 35 in 2013 before running into shoulder issues that cost him all of 2014.  He only threw 8 innings in 2015 before another issue arose and he has yet to appear in 2016.  Current status: he spent 2018 in the Chicago Cubs AAA farm-team and seems like SP depth.  He transitioned to the bullpen in 2019 in AAA but never re-appeared in the majors, and then after the 2020 covid season was released.  Other All Mets of note from 2008: Matt Snyder (who was a long-serving NYY farm-hand before being released as a 28yr old AA player in 2018), L.J. Hoes, who was a 3-time All-Met player, 3rd round pick by Baltimore who has several years of MLB experience, 2nd teamer Mike Snyder (who finished 2018  playing for Atlanta’s AA squad and is now a 6-yr MLFA), 2nd teamer Matt Crouse (who was a 6-yr MLFA off of Detroit’s AAA team after 2017 but never re-signed and may be retired)
• 2007: Jason Farley, RHP from Madison HS.  Went on to pitch at VMI, where he was a 3-year starter but ended his baseball career prior to his senior year.  Current status; unknown.  Other All Mets of note in 2007: L.J. Hoes, Danny Hultzen (both juniors), Justin Wright, 2nd teamer Shawn Pleffner (a former Nats farmhand, was playing for AA Harrisburg in 2016, now retired), 2nd teamer Jarrett Parker (had time with the SF Giants but was released Mar 2018).
• 2006: Steve Ulaki, 1B for Our Lady Good Counsel.  Played four years at U-Delaware but went un-drafted.  Current status; unknown.  Other All-Met players of note from 2006: Justin Bour (who in 2018 split time between Miami and Philly), Matt Sweeney, L.J. Hoes (as a sophomore!), Paul Clemens (RHP who was in the majors as recently as 2016, now playing Indy/Mexican league ball.)
• 2005: Brandon Snyder, SS from Westfield in Centreville.  Became a 1st round pick (13th overall) by Baltimore, has played parts of four season in the majors.  Current Status: he picked up with Tampa Bay for the 2018 season after spending 2017 in the minors.  Then, he signed on with his home town Washington Nationals for the 2019 season and played a full season in AAA Fresno.  He took off 2020 for Covid, returned to Washington’s AAA team for 2021 but transitioned from a player to be a player-coach mid-season, becoming the team’s bullpen catcher.  It is unclear if he remains in this role in 2023. Other All-Met players of note from 2005: Mike Bianucci.
• 2004: Brett Cecil, LHP from DeMatha.   Went to Uof Maryland, was then a 1st round pick in 2007 by Toronto.  He’s a long-serving 8th inning/LOOGY, and moved from Toronto to St. Louis in 2017.  Current Status: He struggled in 2018 in his age 31 season pitching for St. Louis, and has spent the entire 2019 season on the D/L.  Other All-Mets of Note from 2004: Brandon Guyer, who went to UVA out of Herndon HS, was a 5th round pick in 2007 and spent 2016-2018 as a utility player for Cleveland.  Signed a NLFA deal in 2019 with Chicago WS, another with STL for 2020 but never appeared and was released in July.
• 2003: Matt Foley, C from Madison HS in Vienna.  Played four years at Virginia Tech but did not get drafted.  Current status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of Note from 2003: Jay Sborz, Daryl Thompson (yes that Daryl Thompson, who was in the Washington system and was part of the big 2006 Cincy-Washington trade).  Emmanuel Burriss was just an honorable Mention All-Met this year, and played some time for the Washington Nats franchise … that is until an 2017 PED test resulted in a 50-game suspension for a “drug of abuse” (i.e., probably Pot).  He played out 2017 w/ the team, signed a MLFA deal for 2018 with the Angels but never appeared.
• 2002: J.J. Hollenbeck, RHP from Madison HS in Vienna.  Went to VMI, struggled in college, pitched 3 years in the Frontier league.  Current Status: was a member of his HS alma-mater’s coaching staff at Madison HS for a bit, now unknown.  Other All-Mets of Note from 2002: Seth Overbey
• 2001: Mikey Sweeney, 1B from Riverdale Baptist.  Initially committed to Florida, he lost his scholarship when the Florida coaching staff was fired.  He wasn’t drafted because of his college commitment so he enrolled in a community college in Florida.  It looks like he eventually ended up at St. Petersburg college, was drafted in the 39th round in 2004, played briefly in the rookie league and was cut.  Current status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of Note from 2001: Justin Maxwell (as in long-time Nats player Justin Maxwell, who grew up in suburban Maryland and went to the University of Maryland before getting drafted by the then Montreal franchise).
• 2000: Kenny “Bubba” Nelson RHP from Riverdale Baptist via Clinton MD.  He passed up a scholarship to Arizona State when he got drafted in the 2nd round by Atlanta.   He became a prospect of some note in the 2003-4 time frame, but never matriculated to the majors, pitching nine seasons in the minors reaching AAA.  Current status: unknown.  Other All-Mets from 2000 of note: Josh Banks, Joe Koshanksky, Jeremy Cleveland (Gatorade POTY for Virginia from  Hayfield HS).
• 1999: Jeff Baker, SS from Gar-Field HS in Woodbridge.  Gatorade Player of the year in VA and Baseball America 2nd team All American.  Went to Clemson, drafted in the 4th round out of Clemson and went on to have an 11 year MLB career.  He was a backup infielder for Miami in 2014 and 2015 but was released in July of last year after suffering an injury and doesn’t seem to have picked up with anyone else.  The timing of his release was curious, and there’s some sentiment out there that the club released him with an axe to grind.  It seemed a bit odd that he didn’t get picked up by anyone after his 2015 release.   Current Status: unknown, believed to still live in the Virginia area.  Other All-Mets of note in 1999: Joe Saunders again.
• 1998: Ray Gemmill Jr., SS for Paint Branch HS.  Played 4 years at the University of Maryland and was not drafted.  Current Status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of note in 1998: Joe Saunders, who went to Va Tech and ended up having a 10 year MLB career as a lefty starter.
• 1997: Chris Stowe, RHP for Chancellor in Fredericksburg.  1st round pick (37th overall) by Montreal; he pitched one season in rookie ball and then walked away from the game for “personal reasons” but may have been injury related.  Current Status: involved with Pinnacle Baseball as an instructor in the area.  Other All-Mets of note in 1997: Peter Bauer
• 1996: Matt Halloran, SS/2B for Chancellor in Fredericksburg.  VA Gatorade player of the year.  1st round pick (15th overall) by San Diego, played 6 years in their farm system, peaking at AA as a hitter.  Current status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of note: none.
• 1995: Billy Deck, 1B from Potomac (Va); 2-time All-Met, VA Gatorade player of the year.  3rd round pick by St. Louis, made it to AA briefly but played 5 seasons in their lower minors before reaching MLFA status.  Current Status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of note: none.
• 1994: Chris Jackson, OF/RHP from Riverdale Baptist.  3-time all-met.  Drafted by the Cubs in the 23rd round but he has no pro baseball records, nor any records of having gone to college.  Current status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of note fro 1994: Shawn Camp, Mike Colangelo (2nd teamer).  Colangelo is a big name now in the DC baseball scene; he’s got his own academy, and he’s the head coach at the new Colgan HS in Prince William county.
• 1993: L.J. Yankosky, RHP from West Springfield.  2-time All-Met, went to Georgia Tech, suffered an elbow injury that cost him half his collegiate career, and was an 11th round draft pick by Atlanta.  Pitched in Atlanta’s minor league system for 5 years (b-r.com link here).   Current Status: per linkedin.com he finished his degree (I believe he was an Academic All-american) and works for Chick-Fil-A in Atlanta area.  Other All-Mets of Note in 1993: Seth Greisinger (who was VA Gatorade player of the year over Yankosky) and had a better pro career.  Useless information department; I once went out on a date with his older sister.  I’m not kidding.  He was playing for the Braves AA team at the time, and I asked about the unique last name.
• 1992: Dwayne Crawley, 1B from Douglass HS in Upper Marlboro, MD.  Went to PGCC, got drafted in the 61st round by Houston but chose to go on to a 4-year school, finished up his collegiate career at GWU.  Played 2 years of Indy ball.  Current Status: unknown.  Other All-Mets of note in 1992: L.J. Yankosky (see 1993), Justin Counts, Brian McNichol (who went undrafted, went to JMU, got drafted in 1995 and reached the majors).
• 1991: Bill Pulsipher, OF/LHP from Fairfax HS.  Drafted in the 2nd round by NY Mets as a pitcher, he turned down a full ride to ODU to sign his contract.  He raced through the minors, was a top 2 and served as a starter for the MLB team for half the 1991 season at age 21 (B-R.com link).  He blew out his elbow, had Tommy John surgery and didn’t make it back to the majors for 3 seasons.  From 1998 onward, he bounced around as a lefty reliever, quit the sport in his late 20s, mounted a comeback and eventually getting one last cup of coffee in 2005 with St. Louis.  His wiki page has a better narrative of his career and comeback.  He continued to pitch in winter ball and indy leagues until 2011 (age 37).  Current Status: believed to be a private pitching instructor in Upstate NY.  Other All-Mets of note in 1991: Brian Buchanan, David Carroll, Scott Schultz (the Gatorade VA player of the year somehow over Pulsipher who went to LSU).
• 1990: Believed to be Doug Newstrom to make him a two-time winner.  Newstrom took a scholarship to Arizona State University (at the time one of the best baseball schools in the nation), 7th round pick in 93, bounced around the minors until 2000.  Other notables: Justin May (NC State), Brett Sutch (Radford).  Sean Cheetham was VA Gatorade POTY, drafted 4th round by Chicago Cubs, never pitched above high-A.
• 1989: Believed to be Doug Newstrom, who would have won as a junior.  Other All-Mets of note in 1989: Steve Lyons (went to ODU, 4th round pick in 92).  Mike Nielsen, who turned down a full-ride to Miami to take one at BYU but never panned out.
• 1988: believed to be Steve Dunn from Robinson HS.  Drafted out of Robinson in the 4th round in 1988, debuted and had parts of two MLB seasons with Minnesota.  Other notables from that year included Lonnie Goldberg, Chris Burr, both of whom went pro.
• 1987: Pete Schourek, who held the title of “Most accomplished DC-area player in the modern era” for many years.  Schourek was a 2nd round pick by the Mets in 1987, made it to the majors by 1991 and split time between the rotation and the bullpen for three years in New York.  He was waived after the 1993 season, picked up by Cincinnati and in 1995 he went 18-7 and finished 2nd in Cy Young voting.  His great season took a toll though; he sprained his UCL in 96, had surgery and missed half the season, then had another surgery after the next season.  Cincinnati released him, and he bounced around several organizations until finishing up in Boston at age 32 in 2001.
• 1984-86: unknown
• 1983; (link needed): Potomac’s Tim Raley was the All met POTY per this novabaseballmagazine.com retrospective.
• 1982 and prior: unknown if they even did the analysis at the Post.

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Hope you enjoyed this ride through memory lane.  If I failed to mention a “player of note” in any of these years please note is as such in the comments.  I was going mostly off of memory for these names and may have missed players who had good collegiate or pro careers.

I’m going to try to dig up some of the older links, perhaps by digging through WP archives.

Other links used:

• David Fawcett’s InsideNova.com article wondering if Jake Agnos is the best pitcher ever to come out of PW county.
• Gatorade Player of the Year historical database (which may fail)
• Gatorade Baseball POTY by state historically
• full Washington Post All-Met history database
• Baseball-reference.com, milb.com, and a slew of college baseball stats sites.
• the Draft Tracker, where i have tabs for “Local” draft players going back a few years.
• VHSL’s Record books, a list of all VHSL champions going back more than 100 years in some cases.

Welcome to my DC Area Prep Baseball Tourney coverage for 2018.

Here’s the rough schedule of posting and what we’ll cover:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff .  Covers: MD regionals, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Virginia District and Regionals.   Covers: MD state finals, VA Districts and Regionals tourneys, DC regular season results.  Usually publishes after the Memorial Day weekend tournaments finish up.
• #3: Virginia State Champions crowned.  Covers: VA state tourneys, recaps MD, DC, Private School results.  Publishes mid-June once the Va state tourney wraps up.
• #4: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings; publishes early July once all the all-state lists are published.
• #5: My theoretical “All DC/MD/VA Dream tournament” pairings (this post), once all the state champs are finalized.

Now that all DC, MD and VA public and private tournaments are complete, and as we wait for all the various local and national Player of the Year lists to publish, here’s a fun thought exercise.  If the various champs could commit to a “Tournament of Champions,” what would it look like?

Here’s a bunch of fun theoretical tourneys, with my predictions on how they’d play out too for the fun of it.

Possible Champions of Champions Baseball post-season tourney ideas

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The All-Virginia champions league

This takes the champions from the 6 public divisions plus the 3 Private divisions:

6A: West Springfield (DC southern suburbs)
5A: Prince George (south of Richmond near Petersburg)
4A: Salem (just south of Roanoke in SW Virginia)
3A: Spotsylvania (near Fredericksburg)
2A: Page County (near Harrisonburg)
1A: Riverheads (in Staunton, just south of Harrisonburg)

VISSA Division 1: St. Christopher’s (Western Richmond)
VISSA Division 2: The Miller School (Albemarle, near Charlottesville)
VISSA Division 3: Walsingham Academy (Williamsburg)

What if you seeded this 1-9 based on classifications and played a single elimination tourney?

8/9 play-in: 1A:  versus VISSA Division 3: Riverheads vs Walsingham Academy

1 vs 8/9: 6A vs play-in: West Springfield versus Riverheads
2 vs 7: VISAA Div 1 vs 2A: St. Christopher’s vs Page County
3 vs 6: VISAA Div 2 vs 3A: The Miller School vs Spotsylvania
4 vs 5: 4A vs 5A: Salem versus Prince George

In years past I’d have seeded the public 6-A champ over the VISAA Division 1 champ; perhaps not this year though.  I think your semis in this draw are West Springfield, St. Christopher’s, The Miller School and Prince George.  West Springfield and St. Christopher’s advance to the final, St. Christopher’s wins.

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Virginia Public Champions league tourney

Just using the 6 public school champions from Virginia, you could play a mini weekend tournament with two brackets:

Bracket 1:
6A: West Springfield
3A: Spotsylvania
2A: Page County

Bracket 2:
5A: Prince George
4A: Salem
1A: Riverheads

Play a double header round robin on Saturday intra-bracket, then the bracket winners play sunday.  I’d guess the two big teams (West Springfield and Prince George) advance, with West Springfield coming out on top.  In some prior years you could easily argue that the 4-A or 5-A champs despite being from smaller schools were better than the bigger 6-A champ … maybe not this year with all the 4A and 5A upsets we had.

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DC/MD/VA showdown; a competition of local champions.

Thanks to redistricting, there’s now really two Class 6 and Class 5 regional winners in the area, adding to this fake tournament.

– Virginia Class 6 Region C champ: West Springfield
– Virginia Class 6 Region D champ: Battlefield
– Virginia Class 5 Region C champ: Freedom-South Riding
– Virginia Class 5 Region D champ: Potomac
– DCIAA champ: Wilson
– DCSAA champ: Also Wilson … so maybe we pull in Gonzaga, since St. Albans is the IAC champ.
– WCAC champ: St. Johns
– IAC champ: St. Albans
– MAC Champ: Potomac School
– PVAC Champ: (not sure they played baseball this season)
– Maryland At-Large: Riverdale Baptist
– Maryland 4A West champ: Bethesda-Chevy Chase
– Maryland 3A West champ: Thomas Johnson

You’d probably seed this as follows:

Riverdale Baptist
St. Johns
Battlefield
West Springfield
Bethesda-Chevy Chase
Potomac
St. Albans
Gonzaga
Thomas Johnson
Freedom-South Riding
Wilson
Potomac School

So a tourney would go:

• 7 v 10: Thomas Johnson vs Potomac School
• 8 v 9: Freedom-South Riding vs Wilson
• 1 v 8/9: Riverdale Baptist vs Freedom-South Riding
• 2 v 7/10: St. Johns vs Thomas Johnson
• 3 v 6: Battlefield v Potomac
• 4 v 5: West Springfield vs B-CC

I’d guess this draw is Riverdale Baptist, St. Johns, Battlefield and West Springfield in the semis, Riverdale Baptist and Battlefield in the final and an easy Riverdale win in the final.

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Maryland-Virginia State Champs Show Down

Virginia Public champs
6A: West Springfield
5A: Prince George
4A: Salem
3A: Spotsylvania
2A: Page County
1A: Riverheads

Maryland Public Champs:
4-A: Howard
3-A: Thomas Johnson
2-A: Century
1-A: Boonsboro

Maybe you seed it 1-10 and have play-ins with the smallest teams.

8-9: VA 2A:  vs  MD 1-A: Page County vs Boonsboro
7-10: MD 2-A:  vs VA 1A: Century vs Riverheads

1 VA 6A vs 8/9 play-in: West Springfield vs Page County
2 MD 4-A vs 7/10 play-in: Howard vs Century
3  VA 5A vs #6 VA 3A: Prince George vs Spotsylvania
4  MD 3-A  vs #5 seed VA 4A: Thomas Johnson vs Salem

I’d give the top seeds the semis (West Springfield, Howard, Prince George, Thomas Johnson), West Springfield and Prince George in the final, West Springfield the winner.

 

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Private School showdown

VISSA Division 1: St. Christophers
VISSA Division 2: The Miller School
VISSA Division 3: Walsingham Academy

MIAA Class A: Archbishop Curley
MIAA Class B: Boy’s Latin
MIAA Class C: Indian Creek

WCAC: St. Johns (DC)
IAC: St. Albans
MAC: Potomac School
PVAC: ?

Maryland At-Large: Riverdale Baptist

I’d seed this:

1. Riverdale Baptist
2. VISAA Division I
3. MIAA Class A
4. WCAC
5. VISAA Division II
6. IAC
7. MIAA Class B
8. MAC:
9. VISAA Division III
10. MIAA Class C
11. PVAC

hard not to see a Riverdale Baptist-St.Christopher’s final, though the semis between St. Christopher’s and Archbishop Curley would be good.

Welcome to my DC Area Prep Baseball Tourney coverage for 2018.

Here’s the rough schedule of posting and what we’ll cover:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff .  Covers: MD regionals, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Virginia District and Regional Champs crowned.   Covers: MD state finals, VA regionals tourneys, DC regular season results.  Usually publishes after the Memorial Day weekend tournaments finish up.
• #3: Virginia State Champions crowned.  Covers: VA state tourneys, recaps MD, DC, Private School results.  Publishes mid-June once the Va state tourney wraps up.
• #4: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings (this post); publishes early July once all the all-state lists are published

We now should be through the “All-Everything” lists start getting published.  Here’s my tracker of them.  I try to note the player of the year in each case.  If i’m missing something, please let me know.  I’ve put results in red that I either cannot find or are behind a paywall or seem to have been discontinued.  I realize this is kind of anti-climactic at this point; lots of these players mentioned were drafted weeks ago and may already be playing.  But it takes some of these orgs til late June/early July to announce.

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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’ll put these in as they publish, but we won’t expect most of these until the end of June.

• Gatorade announced their player of the year awards.  National POTY is LHP Ryan Weathers from Loretto HS in Loretto Tennessee.  Vanderbilt commit, went 7th overall in the 2018 draft.  None of our local 3 players were drafted.
  • Maryland: Ryan Archibald, RHP/SS from John Carroll HS (Bel Air).  Committed to Arizona.
  • Washington DC: Zach Tsakounis, LHP/OF from St. Johns.  committed to William & Mary.
  • Virginia: Cade Huntgate, RHP/SS for Abingdon HS (Bristol).  Committed to Florida State.

• Louisville Slugger All-Americans: not sure if being named any longer.
• National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) All Mid Atlantic Region:
• MaxPreps High School All-Americans: Nolan Gorman POTY from Phoenix AZ.  19th overall pick to St. Louis.  Local players selected include LCA’s Wesley Clarke to 1st team, Adam Hackenberg, Kody Milton to 2nd team.
• Baseball America High School All-Americans:
• Under Armor All-Americans:
• USA Today/American Family All-USA teams: J.T. Ginn, Brandon HS (Miss) is POTY.  Mississippi State commit, 1st round draft pick (30th overall) in 2018 draft.  Riverdale Baptist’s Corey Rosier was named to the 2nd team.
• USA Today/American Family All-State Teams and POTYs:
  • Maryland: Kody Milton, Inf Severna Park MD is POTY.  UMaryland commit
  • Washington DC: Collin Bosley-Smith, RHP from Wilson HS, a sophomore (!).
  • Virginia:  Wesley Clarke, C for Liberty Christian Academy is POTY.    South Carolina commit, 40th round draft pick 2018.
• American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings High School All Americans:
• Collegiate Baseball High School All-Americans:
• Perfectgame.org/Rawlings All-Americans:  Jeremiah Jackson, St. Luke’s Episcopal HS (Ala.) is PG National POTY.  Mississippi State commit, 2nd round 2018 pick by Angels.   Matthew Libratadore is national pitcher of the year, Ryan Weathers is national 2-way player of the year.
  • Maryland:  Ryan Archibald, RHP/SS from John Carroll HS (Bel Air).  Committed to Arizona.
  • Washington DC: (not named)
  • Virginia: Adam Hackenberg, C from the Miller School is POTY.  Clemson commit, 39th round draft pick 2018.
• Washington Post All-Met teams:  Kody Milton, Inf Severna Park MD is POTY.  UMaryland commit.
  • (here’s a great list of every All-Met team named since 1990 in all sports; fantastic resource for local prep sports fans).
• The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Team:
• Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro Team:
• Virginian Pilot All-Tidewater team:
• Virginia Class 6 All Region Teams
  • Region A (Tidewater) All Regional team:
  • Region B (Richmond) All Regional team:
  • Region C (Occoquan) All-Regional team: Lake Braddock’s Matt Thomas (W&M commit) named POTY.
  • Region D (North) All Regional team: Madison’s Kyle Novak (JMU commit) named Region POTY.  Marshall’s Patrick Halligan (GMU commit) and South Lakes’ Josh Taylor (uncommitted) named co-pitchers of the year.
• Virginia Class 5 All Region Teams
  • Region A (Tidewater area) All-Regional team: Hickory RHP Drew Stanley (a sophomore) named Region POTY.   Link behind a pay-wall for full team.
  • Region B (Richmond) All Regional team:
  • Region C (Northern VA) All Regional team: Potomac Falls LHP Nate Savino (a sophomore) named Region POTY.
  • Region D (Northwest and Western VA) All Regional team: Potomac LHP Brody Mack (a junior) named Region POTY.
• Virginia Class 4 All Region Teams
  • Region A (Tidewater area) All-Regional team:
  • Region B (Richmond) All Regional team:
  • Region C (Northern VA) All Regional team: Riverside Jr SS Carson Swank co-POTY along with Blaze O’Saben, SS for Fauquier HS (UMBC commit).
  • Region D (Northwest and Western VA) All Regional team:
• Other Virginia All-Regional teams: harder to come by:
  • Class 3 Region B (Culpepper/Warrenton area): Max Harper, 1B for Spotsylania is POTY.   Uncommitted as of this writing.
• Northern Virginia All-District teams: Available at this link at Novabaseballmagazine.com, thanks to Joey Kamide for all his hard work.
• NovaBaseballMagazine Nova Nine: Madison’s Kyle Novak (JMU commit) named NovaNine POTY.
• PrepBaseballReport
  • All Maryland Team: 5/29/18 team released, POTYs announced June 11th-14th.  Jacob Zebron, RHP Colonel Richardson HS POTY, NC State commit, 18th round draft pick.
  • All Virginia/DC Team: Wesley Clarke, C for Liberty Christian Academy is POTY.    South Carolina commit, 40th round draft pick 2018.
• VHSL All-State Teams:
  • 6-A: Matt Thomas, C Lake Braddock is POTY.  William & Mary commit.
  • 5-A: Tevin Tucker, SS Prince George HS is POTY.  West Virginia commit.
  • 4-A: Wesley Clarke, C for Liberty Christian Academy is POTY.    South Carolina commit, 40th round draft pick 2018.
  • 3-A: Max Harper, 1B for Spotsylania is POTY.   Uncommitted as of this writing.
  • 2-A: T.R. Williams, a *freshman* RHP from Page County, is POTY.
  • 1-A: Carson Bell, SS from Washington & Lee HS POTY.
• VISAA’s All-State teams: named in early may and announced for all three divisions here.  Players of the Year;
  • Division I All State Team.  Nick Biddison, SS St. Christophers in Richmond is POTY.  Virginia Tech commit.
  • Division II All State Team.  Adam Hackenberg, C from the Miller School is POTY.  Clemson commit, 39th round draft pick 2018.
  • Division III All State Team
• Maryland All-MIAA All-State teams: behind a paywall that i’m tired of fighting 🙂
  • MIAA A division: behind a paywall
  • MIAA B division: behind a paywall
  • MIAA C division: behind a paywall
• Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches (MSABC) All-Maryland teams: four regional all-star teams picked for exhibitions played over Memorial Day weekend.
  • here’s a great history of the MSABC games, including past rosters.
• Maryland Brooks Robinson All-Star game rosters: announced 5/31/18.
• Anne-Arundel County All-Baseball team:
• Montgomery County All-Baseball Team: Michael Bouma, 1B from Sherwood player of the year (UMaryland commit), Ben Vok, RHP Sherwood (a junior) Pitcher of the year.
• All Baltimore-City 2017 Baseball team: behind a paywall
• All WCAC 2018: Thomas Russell, RHP from Paul VI.  Navy commit.
• All IAC 2018: Clark Klitenic, LHP from St. Albans was POTY as a junior.  Duke commit.
• All MAC 2018:

If I missed an award, or if you know of something I don’t, don’t hesitate to post.

Welcome to my DC Area Prep Baseball Tourney coverage for 2018.

Here’s the rough schedule of posting and what we’ll cover:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff .  Covers: MD regionals, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Virginia District and Regional Champs crowned.   Covers: MD state finals, VA regionals tourneys, DC playoff results.  Usually publishes after the Memorial Day weekend tournaments finish up.
• #3: 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.
• #4: My theoretical “All DC/MD/VA Dream tournament” pairings, once all the state champs are finalized.
• #5: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings; publishes early July once all the all-state lists are published.

Lets see where we stand now with Virginia having completed their regional tournaments and setup state semi finals’ matchups.

All Virginia regional finals were played on 6/1/18, and all state tournaments finished up on 6/10/18.  Winners in all cases highlighted in bold red.

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Virginia State tourney match-ups and tourney locations

All the state tourneys ran from June 5th-10th at the various sites.  All state brackets available from this link at VHSL, and the regional brackets are here.

 

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Class 6 State Finals: Quarters on 6/5/18, Semis and Finals held at Deep Run HS in Richmond.

• Class 6 Region A: First Colonial winner, Western Branch runner-up.
• Class 6 Region B: Cosby winner, Thomas Dale runner-up.
• Class 6 Region C: West Springfield winner, Lake Braddock runner-up.
• Class 6 Region D: Battlefield winner, Chantilly runner-up

Class 6 State Quarters results:  Thomas Dale upset First Colonial 7-0, Western Branch upset Cosby 7-1 on a near no-hitter from Antonio Velazquez, West Springfield defeats Chantilly 4-2,  and Lake Braddock rallied late to upset Battlefield 6-5 in a battle of NoVa’s two top teams.

Class 6 State Semis Results: Western Branch defeats Thomas Dale 6-5 in extra innings.  West Springfield defeats Lake Braddock  6-2 for the 2nd time in a week to advance to the state title game.

Class 6 State Final: West Springfield blew open the game late to defeat the defending state champs 12-2 to take their first title since 2010.

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Class 5 State Finals: Quarters on 6/5/18, Semis held at Glen Allen HS, final at Deep Run  HS in Richmond.

• Class 5 Region A: Menchville winner, Maury runner-up.
• Class 5 Region B: Deep Run winner, Prince George runner-up.
• Class 5 Region C: Freedom-South Riding winner, Briar Woods runner-up.
• Class 5 Region D: Potomac winner, Halifax County runner-up

Class 5 State Quarters results: Prince George upsets Menchville 8-1,  Deep Run beat Maury 8-6, Freedom-SR beats Halifax County 5-4, Potomac defeats defending state champ Briar Woods 3-1.

Class 5 State Semis Results:  Potomac blanked Freedom-South Riding 7-0, and Prince George got revenge for last week’s regional final and ended Deep Run’s cinderella story 7-3.

Class 5 State Final: Prince George beats Potomac 8-0 behind a 1-hit shutout from Buck Forbes.

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Class 4 State Finals: Quarters on 6/5/18, Semis held at Kiwanis, final at Salem Memorial stadium in Salem (Roanoke).

• Class 4 Region A: Grafton winner, Jamestown runner-up
• Class 4 Region B: Dinwiddie winner, Powahatan runner-up.
• Class 4 Region C: Fauquier winner, Woodgrove runner-up.
• Class 4 Region D: Salem winner, Amherst County runner-up.

Class 4 State Quarters results:  Grafton defeats Powahatan 3-0, Jamestown upset Dinwiddie 7-3, Fauquier beat Amherst County 3-2 and Salem beat Woodgrove 7-2.

Class 4 State Semis Results: Jamestown got revenge against Grafton 10-8, and Salem downed Fauquier 8-3 behind a seven-run 6th inning.

Class 4 State Final: Salem walked-off against Jamestown to win their first state title 2-1.

 

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Smaller Classifications: 

3A Quarters on 6/5/18, Semis and Final at Salem Memorial stadium in Salem (Roanoke).

• Class 3 Region A: Hopewell winner, York runner-up
• Class 3 Region B: Brentsville winner, Spotsylvania runner-up.
• Class 3 Region C: Fluvanna County winner, Western Albemarle runner-up.
• Class 3 Region D: Abington winner, Northside runner-up.

Class 3 State Quarters results: Spotsylvania upset Hopewell 5-2, Brentsville beats York 4-1, Fluvana County beat Northside 5-1, and Abington downed Western Albemarle 6-3,

Class 3 State Semis Results: Spotsylvania gets regional revenge over Brentsville 8-6, and Abington gets by Fluvanna County 8-2.

Class 3 State Final: Spotsylvania and Abington had to go to extra innings, where Spotsylvania prevailed 13-8 after exploding for 5 runs in the 8th.

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2A and 1A brackets at VHSL site

• Class 2 State Quarter finalists: Maggie Walker (2016’s 2-A champ), Stuarts Draft, Tazewell, Appotomax County
• Class 2 State Semi finalists: Goochland, Chatham
• Class 2 State Final: Page County over Virginia High 5-4.
• Class 1 State Quarterfinalists:  West Point, Central-Lunenberg, Galax, Auburn (2017’s 1-A champion)
• Class 1 State Semi finalists: Northumberland, Patrick Henry-Glade Spring
• Class 1 State Final: Riverheads pounded Honaker 13-1 for the Class 1 State title.

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Recent Virginia HS champs:  Virginia has Class 1 through Class 6.  Before 2014, we just AAA, AA and A.

2017: See this post for 2017’s state tournament wrap-up for all 6 divisions

• In 6-A, Western Branch d Cox 6-4.  Oakton, Patriot semis.
• In 5-A, Briar Woods d Halifax 5-4 in 14 innings.  Menchville and Prince George semi-finalists.
• In 4-A, Liberty Christian Academy d Hanover 8-5.  Harrisonburg, Great Bridge semi-finalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Turner Ashby won 3-A, Dan River won 2-A and Auburn won 1-A.

2016: See this post for 2016’s state tournament wrap-up for all 6 divisions

• In 6-A, Chantilly d Battlefield 3-2.  Hylton & Cosby state semis.
• In 5-A, Nansemond River defeated Mountain View 5-3.  Potomac, Mills Godwin semi finalists.
• In 4-A, Hanover d Liberty Christian Academy 13-12.  Jamestown, Kettle Run semi finalists.
• In the smaller classifications, Rustberg repeated 3-A, Maggie Walker won in 2-A and Rappahannock won 1-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.  Note: if this link fails, its because VHSL has moved it yet again; I have an updated copy of the history books in PDF format.

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That wraps up Virginia, the last local state to play its tourneys.

Welcome to my DC Area Prep Baseball Tourney coverage for 2018.

Here’s the rough schedule of posting and what we’ll cover:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff .  Covers: MD regionals, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Virginia District Champs crowned (this post).   Covers: MD state finals, VA regionals tourneys, DC playoff results.  Usually publishes after the Memorial Day weekend tournaments finish up.
• #3: Virginia State Champions crowned.  Covers: VA state tourneys, recaps MD, DC, Private School results.  Publishes mid-June once the Va state tourney wraps up.
• #4: My theoretical “All DC/MD/VA Dream tournament” pairings, once all the state champs are finalized.
• #5: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings; publishes early July once all the all-state lists are published.

Lets see where we stand now with Virginia having completed their regional tournaments and setup state semi finals’ matchups.

All Virginia regional finals were played on 6/1/18.  District and Regional Winners in all cases highlighted in bold red.

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Northern Virginia

Virginia district tournaments start up on 5/16/18 and Regionals started up on 5/23/18.  All local district playoff brackets are well kept at NovaBaseballmagazine.com.

A reminder that there was some major re-alignment from last year; regional powerhouse Madison was moved out of the Liberty district for the first time in decades, now joins the strong Concorde division with some bigger schools.  There are now mixed conferences, splitting teams up that were formerly 4A, 5A and 6A.   Northern Va districts are pretty consistent; mostly consisting of all 6A or 5A teams … but other districts around the state are a mess, having teams spanning in some cases 4 class sizes.  In 6A, we’ll have 6-A Region A and B from the Richmond/Va Beach areas and Regions C & D from the Northern Virginia areas.  New district to region alignment table here.

In a first in my memory, nearly a week of rain forced organizers to literally abandon playoff games and just hand out district titles.  See below.

Regional brackets are here at NovaBaseball and here at VHSL’s site.

Class 6 Region C “Occoquan Region”

• Cardinal (mostly 6-A): Forest Park won the title over Potomac (who went to the 5-C tourney)
• Gunston District (6-A): #1 West Potomac takes the title.
• Patriot (6-A): #1 Lake Braddock took the title.

In the Regional tournament (draw here), the District winners were seeded West Potomac, Forest Park, Lake Braddock and at-large Woodbridge.  In the quarters on 5/25/18,  WT Woodson upset West Potomac, West Springfield beat Robinson, Lake Braddock beat Colgan, and Forest Park  held off Stuart.  The expected top seeds Lake Braddock and West Springfield advanced to the final/qualified for states and West Springfield springs the upset over perhaps NoVa’s top team to win the regional title.

Class 6 Region D “Northern Region”

• Concorde District (6-A): Madison beat Chantilly.
• Cedar Run (6-A): Battlefield given the title by default over Patriot.
• Liberty (6-A): #4 Yorktown took the title

In the Regional tournament (draw here), the District winners were seeded Yorktown, Battlefield, Madison and at-large Marshall (who competes in a weird 6a/5a district).  I probably would have seeded it so that Madison/Battlefield was a final but Marshall may be favored to beat the upstart Yorktown.  Quick prediction: Battlefield over Marshall in the final.  In the Quarters on 5/25/18, Centreville upset Yorktown, Chantilly upset Marshall, South Lakes upset Madison and only Battlefield held serve in an upset-laden regional, so my predictions were way off.  I still sense Battlefield is the power of the region.  In the semis, Chantilly beat their neighborhood rivals Centreville and Battlefield held off the upstart South Lakes to make the Regional final/qualify for states.  In the Northern Region final, Battlefield turned a 4-1 deficit quickly into a 7-4 lead and made it stick, beating Chantilly for the region crown.

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Southern Virginia Class 6 Regions:

Class 6 Region A

• Beach District (5a and 6a): sends Ocean Lakes, First Colonial, Cox, and Kellam.
• Eastern District (mix): only 6A team Grandby
• Peninsula District (mix): sends only 6A team Woodside
• Southeastern District (mix): sends Western Branch, Oscar Smith

In the Regionals (draw here)… Grandby, Western Branch (your defending state champ), Ocean Lakes and First Colonial are the seeds.  Oscar Smith beat Ocean Lakes in the 1st round; other seeds held.  First Colonial upset Grandby while Western Branch advanced to the regional final/qualified for states.  In the final, First Colonial continued their upsetting ways, topping one of the best teams in the state after nearly squandering an 8 run lead to win the Region title.

Class 6 Region B

• Dominion District (mix of 3,4,5,6A teams): Manchester, James River, Cosby and Clover Hill advanced to the Regional tourney, in that seed order.
• Central District (mostly 5A): sent its only 6A team Thomas Dale
• Commonwealth District (mostly 5A): sent its two 6A team Colonial Forge and Riverbend to the regionals.
• Piedmont Distrct (mostly 3A and 4A): sent its only 6A team Franklin County to the regionals.

In the Regionals (draw here), Manchester, James River, Thomas Dale and Cosby are the top 4 seeds in order.  Manchester was upset in the first round by Roanoke power Franklin County; other seeds went through to the semis.  Cosby and Thomas Dale advanced to the final/qualified for states.   There, Cosby beat Thomas Dale 8-1 to win the region.

 

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Northern Virginia Class 5 Regions

Class 5 Region C

• Potomac (5-A): #1 Freedom-South Riding and #2 Stone Bridge.  Freedom beat Briar Woods in the district final.   Sent Freedom, Briar Woods (defending state champs), Rock Ridge, Potomac Falls and Stone Bridge.
• National (mostly 5-A): #1 Marshall faces off against #3 Edison for the title.  Marshall destroyed Edison for the title and got an “at-large” bid into the 6-A regional tourney.  Edison, Wakefield and Stuart to the 5A region.

In the Regional tournament (draw here), the top 3 teams from National (not including the 6A teams) and the top 5 teams from Potomac made for an 8-team regional.  Top seeds are Freedom-South Riding and Edison.   Edison was upset in the first round en route to all the National district teams being defeated by stronger Potomac district rivals.  Freedom-South Riding and defending state champ Briar Woods to the regional final/state qualification, where Freedom-South Riding easily beat Briar Woods 9-3 to win the region.

Class 5 Region D

• Cardinal (mostly 6-A): Forest Park won the title over Potomac, which was the only 5A team in the district and is the #1 seed in the regional tourney.
• Commonwealth District (mostly 5A):  Mountain View given the title by rain-induced default.  sent Massoponax, North Stafford, Mountain View, Stafford, Brooke Point,
• Piedmont District (mix): sent Halifax county.
• Jefferson District: sent Orange, Albemarle,
• River Ridge District: sent Prince Henry (Roanoke)
• Valley District: sent Harrisonburg
• Blue Ridge District: sent William Fleming

Seven districts to send 12 teams to regionals.

In the regional tournament (draw here), Potomac, and Halifax were the two top seeds, split by “north” and “south” areas of this region.  They played out essentially two mini regional tourneys, with the winners meeting at the end but both going to states.  Potomac and Halifax held serve and made the regional final/qualified for states.  Potomac beat their southern Virginia rivals for the region title 4-2, their first regional title since their awesome run in the late 1980s.

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Southern Virginia Class 5 Regions:

Class 5 Region A (mostly Tidewater area teams)

In the regional tournament (draw here), Mencheville and  Maury the top seeds.  Both advanced to the regional final/qualified for the state tournament, though Maury was beaten on the field by Hickory, who then had to forfeit due to their starter throwing 118 pitches (the limit is 110).  In the final, Menchville won 6-3.

Class 5 Region B (mostly Richmond teams)

In the regional tournament (draw here), Godwin and Prince George the top seeds.  #8 Regional seed Deep Run upset #1 seeded Godwin then destroyed Freeman to make the regional final against #2 seed Prince George.  There, the #8 seed continued its run, topping one of the best teams in the state to win the region title.  Deep Run over Prince George.

 

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Class 4

Class 4A Region A (Tidewater): Draw here: Grafton and  traditional power Great Bridge the top seeds, but Great Bridge upset early.  Grafton easily advanced over Deep Creek and Jamestown to the Region final/qualify for the State tournament.  Grafton beat Jamestown to win the region.

Class 4A Region B (Richmond): Draw here: Louisa and Powhatan the top seeds.  2017 State runner-up and traditional power Hanover #6 seed.  Dinwiddie upset Louisia and Powhatan got by Hanover to make the Region final and qualify for the State tournament.  Dinwiddie beat Powhatan 11-5 for the Regional title.

Class 4A Region C (Northern Virginia):

• Dulles District: Riverside (the 2017 3A state runners-up, now in 4A) beat Woodgrove for the district title.
• Northwestern District: Millbrooke beat Fauquier for the district title.

Regional draw here: Woodgrove and Fauquier upset the district winners to advance to the regional final/qualify for state tournament.  There, Fauquier beat Woodgrove for the regional title.

Class 4A Region D (Lynchburg/Roanoke): Draw here: defending state champ Liberty Christian and  Salem the top seeds.  In a massive upset, LCA was beaten in the first round by William Byrd, giving them their first loss of the season and ending it at the same time.  MaxPreps #1 ranked Virginia team is out early.   Salem and Amherst County advance to regional final/qualify for state tournament and Salem wins 3-2 to take the regional title.

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Virginia 3A, 2A, 1A: see vhsl site for draws and results for these smaller classifications of mostly non-DC area schools.

 

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Maryland

At this point, the Maryland State tournament is complete.  Full Brackets here at the MPSAA website and direct links to the four State-wide brackets are linked directly below.

• Maryland 4-A: Regional champs Howard, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, CH Flowers, and Severna Park face off for the state title.  Howard downed B-CC, Severna Park beat the favored CH Flowers in the semis.  In the final, Severna Park took a 4-1 lead into the 7th … and Howard scored four to walk-off as state champs after finishing last year as runners-up.
• Maryland 3-A: Regional champs Towson, Thomas Johnson, Huntingtown and Chesapeake-Anne Arundel face off for the state title.  In the state semis, Thomas Johnson and Huntingtown advanced to the final, and there Thomas Johnson beat Huntington for the state title.
• Maryland 2-A: Regional champs Hereford, Century, North East and power-house La Plata face off for the state title.  In the state semis, Century and La Plata advanced to the final, where Century held off La Plata for the state title.
• Maryland 1-A: Regional champs Sparrows Point, Boonsboro, McDonough and defending state champ St. Michaels face off for the state title.   St. Michaels and Boonsboro both advanced to force a re-match of the 2017 final, where Boonsboro turned the tides and took the state title.

A quick list of past Maryland State champions by division:

• 4-A: 2017: Northwest blanked Howard 8-0 .2016: Bel Air beat Quice 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: 2017: Poolesville outlasted Chesapeake-Anne Arundel 4-3.  2016: Huntington beat Chesapeake 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: 2017: Middletown beat Fallston 8-0.  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: 2017: St. Michaels destroyed Boonsboro 12-1 .  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.

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DC

• DCIAA: (2018 playoff bracket): Wilson won its 26th consecutive DCIAA championship 5-0 over School Without Walls on 5/10/18.
• DCSAA: (2018 Playoff Bracket): Wilson won the DC “state” title, beating St. Albans in extra innings on 5/22/18

Past DC Winners:

• 2018: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = Wilson.
• 2017: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = Gonzaga
• 2016: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = St. Albans
• 2015: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = Gonzaga
• 2014: DCIAA = Wilson.  DCSAA = St. Johns
• 2013 and prior: Wilson hasn’t lost in the DCIAA in 20 years … finding DCSAA tourney winners on google is tough.

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

State-level Private School tourneys:

• MIAA:
  • Division A: #1 seeded Archbishop Curley beat #6 Gilman.
  • Division B:Boy’s Latin won its 3rd straight title.
  • Division C: Indian Creek defeated defending state champ Concordia Prep 3-2 in extras to win.
• VISAA: The Virginial Private State-wide tournament kicked off on 5/14/18 with play-ins.  Here’s a review of the local teams involved:
  • Division I:  St. Christophers team took the title.
  • Division II: The Miller School won to repeat as champs.
  • Division III: Walsingham beat the Fuqua School 6-5 on a walk-off SB-error in the bottom of the 10th.
• Maryland Private School Tournament; tbd: it was  hard to find info on it for 2017; nothing yet for 2018.

DC-area Private School Leagues

• WCAC: St. Johns won 5th straight title with a walk-off homer
• MAC: The Potomac School walked-off against St. James in a surprise final.
  
• IAC: Georgetown Prep won the regular season title.  St. Albans downed Georgetown Prep in the 3rd game of the playoffs to win a “share” of the title for themselves.
• PVAC: (need results)

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Local and National High School Baseball Ranking Lists:

• Washington Post All Met Sports Area top-10 ranking (5/21/18): Riverdale Baptist has been the clear #1 all  year.  St. Johns a clear #2.  NoVa powers Lake Braddock and Riverside next up.
• NovaBaseballMagazine.com Rankings:Riverside, Lake Braddock and Paul VI have been the dominant teams in 2018.
• VISAA maintains Private school polls/rankings (5/7/18)
• PrepBaseballReport maintains a VA State-Wide Power25 Rankings:
• Baltimore Sun Top-10 Poll Archives:
• The Virginian Pilot Top-10 for Hampton Roads area:
• Richmond times-Dispatch Richmond-Area top-10:
• Baseball America’s National High School Rankings 4/17/18: Riverdale Baptist at #7.
• USA Today super 25 6/1/18: Riverdale Baptist now ranked #1 in the nation and likely to finish there.  wow.  St. Christophers in Richmond rises to #22 after taking the VISAA championships.  Liberty Christian was at #18 but dropped out with their season-ending loss in regionals.
• USA Today High School Experts top 25: Riverdale Baptist at #9 nationally.
• MaxPreps “Excellent 50” ranking: Riverdale Baptist at #7.

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.

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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.
• Roanoke Times for Roanoke, Salem and other areas in the lower south west corner of the state.
• NovaBaseballMagazine: great coverage of Prep baseball in NorthernVirginia from Joey Kamide

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 (thanks again to Joe Antonellis for this link)
• 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

 

Welcome to my DC Area Prep Baseball Tourney coverage for 2018.

Here’s the rough schedule of posting and what we’ll cover:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff (this post).  Covers: MD regionals, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Northern VA Regional Champs crowned.  Covers: MD state finals, VA regionals tourneys, DC regular season results.  Usually publishes after the Memorial Day weekend tournaments finish up.
  #3: Virginia Regional Results, DC Tourneys.  Covers: VA regional results, State brackets, DC tourney results.  Usually publishes the first week of June.
  #4: Final Prep Baseball Update: Virginia State Champions crowned.  Covers: VA state tourneys, recaps MD, DC, Private School results.  Publishes mid-June once the Va state tourney wraps up.
• #5: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings; publishes early July once all the all-state lists are published.
• #6: my theoretical “All DC/MD/VA Dream tournament” pairings, once all the state champs are finalized.

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Northern Virginia

Virginal district tournaments start up on 5/16/18 and regionals start up on 5/23/18.  All local district playoff brackets are well kept at NovaBaseballmagazine.com.

The top four teams from each district tourney form the 16-team regional brackets, to be published later on once all the divisions are finalized.

A reminder that there was some slight re-alignment from last year; regional powerhouse Madison was moved out of the Liberty district for the first time in decades, now joins the strong Concorde division with some bigger schools.  There are now mixed conferences, splitting teams up that were formerly 4A, 5A and 6A.  Plus there does not seem to be the old “Northern” and “NorthWest” regions.  Just 7 mixed-division districts for the whole upper area of the state.

In a first in my memory, 7 straight days of rain forced organizers to literally abandon playoff games and just hand out district titles.

• Cardinal (mostly 6-A): #1 Potomac, #2 Forest Park, Forest Park won the title over Potomac after both being handed rain-out passes to the final.
• Cedar Run (6-A): the two top seeds (#1 Battlefield and #2 Patriot) and frequent rivals advanced to the final … which was rained out and cancelled, giving Battlefield the title.
• Commonwealth (mostly 5-A): #1 Mountain View and #2 Stafford were given passes to regionals as the entire post-season tournament was cancelled.
• Concorde District (6-A): #1 Madison, #2 Centreville; Madison beat Chantilly in the final for its 6th straight district title.
• Dulles (4-A): #1 Riverside, #2 Woodgrove; semis scheduled for 5/23/18 weather permitting.
• Gunston District (6-A): #1 West Potomac, #2 T.C. Williams, who lost to #3 Annandale setting up a 5/18/18 final.
• Liberty (6-A): #4 seed Yorktown won the play-in then crushed #1 seeded McLean to advance to the final versus #2 South Lakes.  Yorktown took the title in an upset to secure a bye in the regionals.
• National (mostly 5-A): #1 Marshall faces off against #3 Edison for the title.  Marshall destroyed Edison for the title and got an “at-large” bid into the 6-A regional tourney.
• Northwest (6-A): #1 Fauquier and #2 Sherando; playoffs not scheduled to occur til the 5/25/18 weekend.
• Patriot (6-A): #1 Lake Braddock faces off versus #2 West Springfield in a battle of perennial powers, with LB (perhaps the area’s top public team) winning.
• Potomac (5-A): #1 Freedom-South Riding and #2 Stone Bridge; final 5/25/18.

We’ll cover the Regional brackets once all the teams are qualified for their respective divisions.

 

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Maryland

At this point, the Maryland State tournament is nearly complete; the state finals are this coming weekend.  Brackets here at the MPSAA website and direct links to the four State-wide brackets are linked directly below.

• Maryland 4-A: Regional champs Howard, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, CH Flowers, and Severna Park face off for the state title.
• Maryland 3-A: Regional champs Towson, Thomas Johnson, Huntingtown and Chesapeake-Anne Arundel face off for the state title.
• Maryland 2-A: Regional champs Hereford, Century, North East and power-house La Plata face off for the state title.
• Maryland 1-A: Regional champs Sparrows Point (a favorite), Boonsboro, McDonough and defending state champ St. Michaels face off for the state title.

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DC

• DCIAA: (2018 playoff bracket): Wilson won its 26th consecutive DCIAA championship 5-0 over School Without Walls on 5/10/18.   This is perhaps not even the most startling stat about Wilson right now.  The went 11-0 in conference play, outscoring their opponents 168-1.  That’s right; they gave up one run in league play all year.  Deadspin featured the school and did some more research into its past; their piece is worth a read.
• DCSAA: (2018 Playoff Bracket): the DCSAA tourney runs from 5/16 to 5/20.  Wilson is the #1 seed and advanced to the final against #2 seeded St. Albans (the IAC champ).  There, on 5/22/18, for the first time in its history, Wilson won the DC “state” title, beating St. Albans in extra innings.  They’ve won 26 straight public school titles but had never won the city title until now.

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

State-level Private School tourneys:

• MIAA:
  • Division A: play started on 5/11/18: Archbishop Curley, John Carroll, Calvert Hall, Loyola, Archbishop Spalding and Gilman the 6 entrants.  Loyola the defending state champ.  In the final, #1 seeded Curley beat #6 Gilman.
  • Division B: play started on 5/11/18.  Mostly smaller private schools around the state of Maryland; powerhouse Boy’s Latin #1 seed.  In the end, Boy’s Latin won its 3rd straight title.
  • Division C: (difficult to find information)
• VISAA: The Virginial Private State-wide tournament kicked off on 5/14/18 with play-ins.  Here’s a review of the local teams involved:
  • Division I: The Potomac School (#8 seed) lost its play-in game and was eliminated early.  Local teams Paul VI (#3) and Flint Hill (#6) faced off in the quarters on 5/15/18. and Paul VI came out on top, ending Flint Hill’s season without any titles.  All the other schools are from Richmond or Norfolk areas, including the top seeded St. Christopher’s and Benedictine.  #2 seed Benedictine was upset by #7 Norfolk Academy, and #5 Collegiate upset #4 Norfolk Christian to setup some unexpected semis.  In the final, the dominant St. Christophers team took the title.
  • Division II: no DC-area schools: the Miller school (coached by former MLB pitcher, Virginia native and HoFame candidate Billy Wagner) and Highland School are the top seeds.  Powerhouse #4 seed Greenbriar Christian was upset in the first round.  Miller faced off against Steward in the final, and ended up winning to repeat as champs.
  • Division III: no DC-area schools: Walsingham and Southampton academies are the top seeds.  In the end, Walsingham beat the Fuqua School 6-5 on a walk-off SB-error in the bottom of the 10th.
• Maryland Private School Tournament; tbd: it did not seem to occur in 2017, we’ll see for 2018.

DC-area Private School Leagues

• WCAC: DeMatha ousted #1 seed Paul VI to face off against WCAC power St. Johns for the title.  The title series went to the decisive third game, which went 12-innings and ended with a walk-off homer win for St. Johns.  This is St. John’s fifth straight WCAC title.
• MAC: The Potomac School walked-off against St. James in a surprise final; MAC powerhouse Flint Hill was upset early.
  
• IAC: Georgetown Prep won the regular season title.  St. Albans downed Georgetown Prep in the 3rd game of the playoffs to win a “share” of the title for themselves.
• PVAC: (difficult to find information).

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Local and National High School Baseball Ranking Lists:

• Washington Post All Met Sports Area top-10 ranking (5/7/18): Riverdale Baptist has been the clear #1 all  year; it has been a down year for traditional NoVa powers.
• NovaBaseballMagazine.com Rankings:Riverside, Lake Braddock and Paul VI have been the dominant teams in 2018.
• VISAA maintains Private school polls/rankings (5/7/18)
• PrepBaseballReport maintains a VA State-Wide Power25 Rankings:
• Baltimore Sun Top-10 Poll Archives:
• The Virginian Pilot Top-10 for Hampton Roads area:
• Richmond times-Dispatch Richmond-Area top-10:
• Baseball America’s National High School Rankings 4/17/18: Riverdale Baptist at #7.
• USA Today High School Experts top 25: Riverdale Baptist at #9 nationally.
• MaxPreps “Excellent 50” ranking: Riverdale Baptist at #7.

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.

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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 (thanks again to Joe Antonellis for this link)
• 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

Final HS Post of the 2017 year.

Here’s the rough schedule of posting and what we’ll cover:

• #1: DC/MD/VA District High School Tournament Report: post-season kickoff.  Covers: MD regionals, VA district brackets, Private school tourney updates.  Usually publishes the week before Memorial day tournament finals.
• #2: Maryland State Champs, Northern VA Regional Champs crowned.  Covers: MD state finals, VA regionals finals.  Usually publishes first week of June.
  #3: Virginia State Champions crowned .  Covers: VA state tourneys, recaps MD, DC, Private School results.  Publishes mid-June once the Va state tourney wraps up.
• #4: Players of the Year/All-State lists and final rankings (this post); publishes early July once all the all-state lists are published.

We have finally passed all the “All-Everything” lists start getting published.  Here’s my tracker of them.  I try to note the player of the year in each case.  If i’m missing something, please let me know.  I’ve put results in red that I either cannot find or are behind a paywall or seem to have been discontinued.  I realize this is kind of anti-climactic at this point; lots of these players mentioned were drafted weeks ago and may already be playing.  But it takes some of these orgs til late June/early July to announce.

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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’ll put these in as they publish, but we won’t expect most of these until the end of June.

• Gatorade announced their player of the year awards on 5/29/17:
  • Maryland: Harold Cortijo, RHP/OF from Riverdale Baptist.  Committed to play at Seminole State, drafted in the 14th round by the New York Yankees; signed on 6/18/17.
  • Washington DC: Jack Roberts, RHP/SS from St. Johns.  Committed to play at Elon.  Undrafted.
  • Virginia: Andrew Abbott, LHP from Halifax County HS.  Committed to play for UVA.  Drafted in 36th round by the New York Yankees; likely to go to school.

• Louisville Slugger All-Americans: not sure if being named any longer.
• National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) All Mid Atlantic Region: can’t find a link but has apparently been named as per MaxPreps bios on Cortijo and Abbott.
• MaxPreps High School All-Americans; named 7/3/17.  Jordon Adell  National player of the year.  Cortijo, Abbott
• Baseball America High School All-Americans: named 6/27/17.  Jordon Adell  National player of the year.   No DC/MD/VA players on any of the 1st, 2nd or 3rd team this year.
• USA Today/American Family All-USA teams.  named 6/13/17.   Jordon Adell  National player of the year.   Harold Cortijo named to 3rd team All-USA.
• American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings High School All Americans: named 6/22/17.  MacKenzie Gore POTY.  Danny Hosley from Langley and Kody Milton from Severna Park named to 3rd team.
• Collegiate Baseball High School All-Americans: named 6/16/17: Tanner Burns is POTY.  Jose Rivera, Harold Cortijo, and  Andrew Abbott named.
• Perfectgame.org/Rawlings All-Americans: Jordon Adell and MacKenzie Gore were their National Player and Pitcher of the year (both were upper 1st round picks)
  • Maryland: Harold Cortijo
  • Washington DC: none named.
  • Virginia:  Andrew Abbott
• Washington Post All-Met teams: Announced 6/9/17.   Harold Cortijo, RHP/OF from Riverdale Baptist is All Met player of the year.
• The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Team: Announced 6/25/17.  Kody Milton a Jr. 3B from Severna Park, is POTY.  Early commit to UMaryland.
• Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro Team: announced 6/27/17. Evan Justice– Collegiate School, a LHP from Richmond committed to NC State.
• Virginian Pilot All-Tidewater team:  Hunter Gregory, DH/RHP from Hickory is the POTY.  Committed to ODU.
• Virginia All 6-A North Regional team: Langley’s Danny Hosley is player of the year (no PG profile/unknown college commit).  Madison’s Jake Nielsen pitcher of the year (a Junior w/o a current college commitment).
• Virginia All 6-A South Regional team: Austin Cabone from Cox and Hunter Vay  a Catcher from Thomas Vale co-players of the year.   Cabone is commited to George Mason, Vay to Virginia Commonwealth/VCU.
• Virginia All 5-A North Regional team: Andrew Abbott, LHP from Halifax County HS player of the year.
• Virginia All 5-A South Regional team: certainly named, cannot find link.
• Virginia All 4A West Regional team: Will Merriken OF from Kettle Run player of the year.  Committed to Roanoke College.
• Virginia All 3A East Regional team: Daniel Brooks SS from Spotsylvania player of the year.   Committed to GMU.
• Other Virginia All-Regional teams: pending/unknown;
• Northern Virginia All-District teams: Available at this link at Novabaseballmagazine.com, thanks to Joey Kamide for all his hard work.
• NovaBaseballMagazine Nova-NINE: Michael Ludowig is the Northern Virginia player of the year; Wake Forest commit.
• PrepBaseballReport All Maryland Team: Harold Cortijo, RHP/OF from Riverdale Baptist is POTY.
• PrepBaseballReport All Virginia/DC Team:  Andrew Abbott, LHP from Halifax County HS is POTY.
• VHSL All-State Teams:
  • 6-A: Austin Cabone RHP from Cox is player of the year.  GMU commit.
  • 5-A: Andrew Abbott, LHP from Halifax County HS is Player of the Year, UVA commit.
  • 4-A: Will Merriken OF from Kettle Run is POTY.  Roanoke College
  • 3-A: Justin Showalter, RHP from Turner Ashby, is POTY.  JMU commit.
  • 2-A: Hunter Brown OF from John Battle HS is POTY.  ? commit.
  • 1-A: Austin Smallwood, RHP from Eastside HS is POTY.  ? commit
• VISAA’s All-State teams:
  • Division I All State Team with several Paul VI and Flint Hill players.  Player of the Year: Evan Justice– Collegiate School, a LHP from Richmond committed to NC State.
  • Division II All State Team.  Player of the year: Ethan Murray– Miller School, a Junior SS/RHP who sports a 4.0 and is an early commit to Duke.
  • Division III All State Team.   Player of the Year: Carter Davis– Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot, a C from Powhattan committed to St. Andrews Presbyterian College.
• Maryland All-MIAA All-State teams: behind a paywall that i’m tired of fighting 🙂
  • MIAA A division: behind a paywall
  • MIAA B division: behind a paywall
  • MIAA C division: behind a paywall
• Anne-Arundel County All-Baseball team: Kody Milton a Jr. 3B from Severna Park, is POTY.  Early commit to UMaryland
• All Baltimore-City 2017 Baseball team: behind a paywall
• All WCAC 2017: Jack Roberts, RHP/SS from St. Johns player of the year.
• All MAC 2017: no POTY named; if you asked me I’d probably go Carter Bosch, P/SS from the Potomac School, who was All-Met 1st team as a junior.
• All IAC 2017: Randy Bednar, SS from Landon is IAC POTY.  Committed to UMaryland.

If I missed an award, or if you know of something I don’t, don’t hesitate to post.