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2022 Prep Baseball Wrap: Virginia State Champs

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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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.

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.


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.

Written by Todd Boss

June 16th, 2022 at 9:41 am

Posted in High School

Prep Baseball Coverage 2019; DC, MD, VA Regional and State Champs

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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.

 


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.


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.


Class 5 State Finals:  thanks to NovaBaseballmagazine.com’s coverage of Class 5 RegionalsClass 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.


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.


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.


Smaller ClassificationsClass 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.

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.

 


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:

 


DC

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.

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:

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.

 


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.


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.

Non-newspaper Links for Local and National Prep Baseball Coverage

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

Written by Todd Boss

June 21st, 2019 at 5:15 pm

Prep Baseball Update #5 2018: DC/MD/VA “Tournament of Champions” brackets

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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


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.


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.


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.


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.

 


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.

Written by Todd Boss

July 16th, 2018 at 2:33 pm

Posted in High School,Local Baseball

Tagged with

Prep Baseball Update #3 2018: Virginia State Champs crowned

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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.


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.

 


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.


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.


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.

 


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.


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.

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.


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

Written by Todd Boss

June 11th, 2018 at 10:54 am