Bishop O’Connell had won before, and Kyle Padgett knew it could win again.
So when Padgett took over the Knights’ program in the fall of 2012, he knew it was more a case of dusting off a foundation of success than trying to build a new one.
Rick Hart had coached O’Connell to a 123-86 record from 2004-12 and had won two Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) Coach of the Year awards, but the Knights had slumped to 8-16 during a 2012 campaign that saw them win just two conference games.
“The program had kind of come to point where guys had lost that competitive edge, and guys weren’t hungry to play baseball every day,” Padgett said. “I’ve known Coach Hart from way back when he was coaching [the Virginia] Barnstormers and I was recruiting his kids. He had kind of gotten to point I think where he had had enough of high school baseball and the ugly factors that come with it.
“It’s a process to get guys excited to come to practice, to compete every day, and to believe that as a program, we were good to go and compete at the best level. From day one, the voice was, ‘I don’t care what these other programs have been doing, we’re going to make sure you guys come out every day, have a good time, compete every day, and know that we can go out and beat these other programs’.”
For Padgett, leaving his assistant coaching position at Duke University would require the right situation. And a program rich in history and tradition but without a WCAC championship since 2001 or a Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) state title since 1998 provided the perfect opportunity. Though making the transition from the college game to the prep game came with some obstacles.
“It’s still an adjustment in terms of trying to find a way to best develop a young player, while also teaching a team to win baseball games,” said Padgett, who starred at the College of William & Mary before advancing as high as Single A with the Miami Marlins organization. “I’m still trying to figure it out. Every day, I try something different until we find out what works best.”
The early returns have the O’Connell baseball community excited. The Knights, which hadn’t advanced past the first round of the WCAC tournament in seven years, made a run to the conference championship series last spring before falling to St. John’s. They have increased their win total in conference play by four in each of the past two seasons - from 2 in 2012 to 6 in 2013 to 10 in 2014 - and last year advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2011.
And behind a junior class that includes Rafi Vazquez, the WCAC Player of the Year, in addition to Duke commit Myles Hudzick, William & Mary commit Patrick Ryan, left-hander Corey Burch and big righty Austin Kunde, the Knights looked primed to take the next step in their program’s reboot.
“I don’t think it was really a surprise,” Vazquez said of the Knights’ postseason run. “We had the potential, but didn’t know if we could put together because we were young. A little bit of the inexperienced showed, but we still did pretty well for how young we were.”
Added Burch: “We had a great year, and coming into this season we definitely want to build on that. The team as a whole really has bought into continuing to do the small things right.”
O’Connell, which opens its season with a doubleheader at Gonzaga tomorrow at the Nationals Youth Academy in D.C., will lean on a deep rotation led by Vazquez and supported by the likes of Burch (3.25 ERA in 28 innings), the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Kunde and senior Brian Murray (2.07 ERA, 30 strikeouts in 32.2 innings), who will play for the College of Wooster in Ohio. The four will help provide the depth needed on the mound during a private school schedule that consists of three to five games a week.
The staff is directed by pitching coach Rob Riley, who has been instrumental in the program’s rebirth. “He’s been phenomenal from day one when I got the job,” Padgett said. “My first phone call was to Rob. It’s been a very fun relationship. He’s kind of the antithesis to me, I’m the laid back guy trying to keep guys composed, and he’s the fiery guy. We play off each other well.”
And while their pitching depth as a whole will be key this spring, it is Vazquez that other teams will be gunning for after a breakout 2014 season that saw him produce a 1.80 earned run average in 46.2 innings and hit .430 with seven home runs and 32 RBI.
“He’s got the chip on his shoulder,” Padgett said. “He embraces that role, that everyone is coming for you and they want you to prove that you’re that legit. Our message to Rafi is, ‘You don’t have to go be the Player of the Year in the league’, but we’re obviously hoping that he can build on the success of last year. He’s the best 3-pitch mix high school guy I’ve seen in awhile, where he truly commands a slider and changeup. He’s not throwing 90, he’s throwing a comfortable 86 in the sense that it’s an easy 86. But you can't just go up there and sit 86, because you might see slider, slider, change up. If he gets ahead, he’s very difficult to deal with.
“I haven’t seen anyone at this is as polished with that mix of three pitches.”
Vazquez says he embraces the attention from other players and teams, and the target on his back: “I enjoy that. I want to be that guy where with the other teams it’s like, ‘We have to beat this dude’. And then when I succeed, the feeling’s just going to be that much better.”
Burch, the grandson of the late Al Burch, who was the longtime athletic director and principal at the school and for whom the school’s baseball field is named for, broke out with a big year on the mound and at the plate last spring. He will take the ball in the Knights’ second game in the opening set with Gonzaga, and Padgett will take anything close the offensive season he had a year ago, when he hit. 396 with a .540 on-base average.
“We’re not expecting the same production,” the coach said. “But if we can get some solid ABs, that would be really big in the middle of that order.”
Ryan (.324, 22 RBI) and leadoff man Hudzick (.297, 28 runs, 11 stolen bases) will anchor the defense from their shortstop and center field positions, respectively, and along with Vazquez, Kunde (.340) and Burch will be looked upon to carry the lineup. Ryan, who transferred from Georgetown Prep in the fall of 2013, will be one of the conference’s top middle infielders and will hit in the No. 3 spot in the order. Vazquez will bat in the cleanup spot, just ahead of Kunde. Burch is slotted to hit sixth.
The heart and soul of the team, though, is Murray, who will play third base when not on the mound.
“[Rafi’s] our most talented guy, without a doubt,” Padgett said. “But Brian Murray, from my first day here, was instrumental in turning the tide of the program and getting it to where it is in a short amount of time. He’s not as talented as some of these guys, but his attitude and work ethic is fantastic.”
Padgett points at the team’s championship series sweep at the hands of St. John’s as a motivating factor this offseason. O’Connell was no-hit in both games in the series and was outscored 19-0 in the two contests, then fell to to Norfolk Academy, 2-1 in the first round of the state tournament to finish 16-14.
“To go that deep and experience that environment was great,” Padgett said. “And to lose was a great thing too. It helped kind of set the theme throughout workouts this offseason. It was, ‘we’ve got to be better than last year’.”
Vazquez agrees: “It’s a new season, nothing carries over from last year. It’s a fresh page, and we’ve got to work hard like we did last year, get lucky a little bit, and hopefully get back to the championship like last year, and hopefully close this time.
“We expect a lot from our team, and now we‘ve just got to put it all together.”
Photos of Rafi Vazquez and Kyle Padgett courtesy of Bishop O'Connell Baseball
