Some are known for one aspect of their game - their bat, their glove, or their arm - and others for having the whole package. Some blossomed early in their high school careers, while others have flown under the radar and are expected to emerge this year.
As winter gives way to spring and the opening of the high school baseball season, watching the area’s top infielders fly around the yard making plays, hit for both average and power, and change games with their base running, will give their respective teams a reason to be excited.
And three of the those infielders in particular have put the entire package together, resulting in a trio of elite high school players that popped up on the radars of college coaches very early in their prep careers. All three have either committed to or narrowed their choices to some of the top collegiate programs in the country, and two of them could very well end up on the same roster down in Charlottesville.
For Patriot third baseman Nate Eikhoff, Madison shortstop Pete Nielsen and Oakton shortstop Joe Rizzo, the similarities and comparisons fly when you ask coaches about them. Each of the players hits left-handed (Nielsen is a switch hitter), and can hit with power. All three have plus arms and have been clocked in the low- to mid-80s when throwing across the infield. And all three carry an intangible that registers above all others, the ability to be both the best and hardest-working player on any given field on any given day.
“The first thing that comes to mind is their bats,” said Carson Carroll, the director of Stars Showcase Baseball and a former infielder at the University of California-Irvine and for seven years at the professional level. “Infielders, outfielders, catchers, it does not matter. In my opinion, these are the top three bats in the area.
“Nate Eikhoff is the best pure hitter I have ever coached. Great hand-eye coordination and he can spray the ball to all fields. Pete Nielsen can hit from both sides of the plate, he has good size and power potential. He could be a very good gap hitter at the next level. Joe Rizzo, like Nate, is a pure hitter from the left side and can hit to all fields.”
This spring provides an opportunity for all three to lead teams that had seasons end abruptly last spring to deep postseason runs.
For Nielsen, and his Warhawks teammates as a whole, they were left with an incomplete feeling that sat with them throughout the offseason after a rain-shortened North Region semifinal loss to McLean last May.
“It’s kind of haunting. It’s kind of lingering,” said Nielsen, a 6’2”, 185-pound junior. “Sometimes I’ll be thinking about it if I’m not hitting or something, so I’ll leave and go hit.”
It is that work ethic that his coach, Mark “Pudge” Gjormand, says makes him easy to coach, and easy for his teammates to follow. “We’ve been fortunate to have some good infielders over the years, but Pete as good as I’ve had, “Gjormand said. “And not only as a player, but as a person, as a leader. He’s a lot of fun to coach. We call him the Pied Piper, he’s always somewhere working, and the other guys want to follow him. The leadership comes naturally to him.”
Nielsen comes from a deep baseball bloodline. His father, Mike, pitched at Brigham Young University in the early 1990s and his older brother, Mike, and cousin, Nate Favero, are both currently serving their Mormon missions before resuming their careers at BYU. Another cousin, Warhawks junior Matt Favero, is also a Division I prospect.
With his college choices narrowed to BYU and the University of Virginia, Nielsen is in no immediate rush to make a decision.
“For most baseball people, that’s a no-brainer,” said Gjormand, referring to Virginia’s recent run of three College World Series appearances the past six years. “But he’s very committed to the Church. I think he’d like to have it done by April, because both schools need to know something.
“He’s been very good into looking into both schools, taking a very mature approach to the decision.”
And there has been no pressure for him to make a decision. Well, at least not from his family.
“Obviously, people around here are saying to go to UVA” Nielsen said. “It’d be cool to play with my brother, but it’d also be cool to play in a College World Series like UVA has. [My brother]’s not really saying anything. It’s all on me.”
For Eikhoff, the new season marks an opportunity to lead his Pioneers team to their first Virginia 6A Conference 8 championship after losing in the final to rival Battlefield the past two seasons. The 6’0”, 185-pound senior signed earlier this month with Virginia, and is coming off a junior season in which he hit .541 and was named as a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post.
Patriot, in its fourth season under coach Sammy Serrano since the school opened in the fall of 2011, advanced to the state tournament in 2013, but lost to West Potomac in the first round of the regional tournament last spring.
Another Pioneers run to the state tournament could mean getting past Madison in regionals, a potential match-up that Nielsen would look forward to. “I’ve never played against him,” Nielsen said. “But I’ve heard he’s a very good player and I’m hoping we can this year.”
Eikhoff projects as either a third baseman or middle infielder at the collegiate level, and will become the latest Northern Virginia infielder to head to play for Brian O’Connor and the Cavaliers, following in the footsteps of Kenny Towns (Lake Braddock) and Keith Werman (Oakton).
For Rizzo, who burst on the scene by hitting .434 as a freshman in 2013 and helped Oakton repeat as Conference 5 champions last year, the Cougars will go as he goes.
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound junior is the latest in a long line of standout shortstops the school has produced, from Alfred Rodriguez (University of Maryland) to Chad Carroll (James Madison University) to Mitchell Carroll (University of Maryland-Baltimore County).
And the University of South Carolina commit might just be the best of any of them.
“He does everything well,” said Oakton coach Justin Janis. “Some guys might be stronger offensively or defensively, but he has an all-around game. He hits for average, has a lot of pop in his bat, and he plays a very strong shortstop.”
After moving around in the lineup last year, Rizzo figures to be entrenched in the middle of the Cougars’ order for the next two seasons. Oakton, after winning their league title for the second season in a row and third time in four years, was bounced in the first round of regionals by the same McLean team that ended Madison’s season.
For a deeper run to occur, Rizzo will need to continue to wield the dangerous bat that had teams pitching around him last year, including the crosstown Warhawks.
“Joe came on the scene so early as a freshman as a hitter,” Gjormand said. “And I know this, we were extremely careful with him last year. You don’t say that about many sophomores.”
“All three of them are great,” Gjormand continued. “What’s amazing to me is that two of the best shortstops in this area are one mile from each other. And [Nielsen and Rizzo] have become close. They hit together this offseason and they have great respect for each other.”
Northern Virginia's Top Infielders:
Jake Allen, Briar Woods, Senior
Blake Byers, South County, Junior
Colin Corey, Annandale, Junior
Michael Coritz, Paul VI Catholic, Junior
Nate Eikhoff, Patriot, Senior
Jack Howard, Heritage, Senior
Jett Manning, Battlefield, Senior
Trey McDyre, Loudoun Valley, Junior
Dave Mocabee, Stone Bridge, Junior
Pete Nielsen, Madison, Junior
Joe Rizzo, Oakton, Junior
Mason Scoville, Westfield, Senior
