August 27 - As part of the All-Time Northern Virginia Top 10 feature, the magazine will be releasing short recaps of the nominated teams, grouped by the decade they played in. Teams that won state championships were automatically nominated, with current and former coaches from the area nominating non-state champions, bringing the list of total nominees to 60 teams. Once recaps of each of the 60 teams have been posted this week, the nominees will be turned over to a selection committee of current and former coaches from the area, who will select and rank the All-Time Top 10. The rankings will be revealed beginning the first week in September, with one team featured each week. Here are recaps for the the nominees from the 1990s:
1998 West Springfield (23-3) - The Spartans beat three state champions during their regular season, Maryland’s Arundel in a local matchup and the champions from South Carolina and Georgia while winning the Southeastern Baseball Classic over Spring Break in South Carolina. Then they blitzed Centreville, 13-0, to win the Northern Region en route to the Group AAA state final, where they slipped past George Washington-Danville, 6-5. Coach Ron Tugwell’s team finished the season ranked 13th nationally by USAToday behind a core led by future big league pitcher Joe Saunders and Mike Crisci, who was the state’s player of the year. The tandem combined to go 19-0, and Crisci also hit .378 with five homers and 26 RBI. Marc Tugwell, John Schneider and Jason Lee played key roles for a deep lineup. Saunders, Crisci and Tugwell would later team up again at Virginia Tech.
1998 Bishop O’Connell (22-5) - The Knights bounced back after falling to DeMatha Catholic in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship to knock off Greenbrier Christian Academy in Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division II final. Greenbriar Christian had won the previous six Division I state titles. Coach Gary Rucker’s team was led by outfielder Cheyne Griswold, a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post after hitting .460 with four homers and 29 RBI, and pitcher Brian Laniak, who was the Co-WCAC Player of the Year. Also playing key roles were Gibram Hamden, who would later play quarterback with the Washington Redskins, as well as catcher Christian Amorosi.
1997 St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (16-6) - The Saints won the program’s first Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC) in the conference’s 40-year history, then capped their season by winning the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division II state title. Longtime coach Jerry Howell’s team was led by Jack Richardson, a two-way standout and second-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post, as well as catcher David Mason and first baseman Carey Meushaw.
1996 Herndon (23-4) - The Hornets repeated as Northern Region champions before falling to Potomac in the 3A state quarterfinals, blitzing past Oakton, 15-0, in the Concorde District final and out-slugging W.T. Woodson, 17-12, in the region title game. Coach Al McCullock’s team boasted six players who would play collegiately at the Division I level, and four - Mark Rueffert, Greg Miller, Blair DeHart and Doug Heagen - who would eventually be drafted. DeHart was a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post after hitting .450 with four homers and 29 RBI and went 6-2 with a 1.46 ERA, while Ben Curtis went 9-1 with a 1.55 ERA.
1995 Brentsville District (20-4-1) - The Tigers’ three-year rise culminated with a comeback to beat Coeburn, 3-2, in the Group A state championship game. Coach David Przybocki’s team won three consecutive Bull Run District championships and were making their second consecutive state tournament appearance that spring. Trailing Coeburn entering the seventh inning, the Tigers scored on a throwing error to sending the game into extra innings, where pitcher Jason Ritenour took over. Now the current coach at C.D. Hylton, Ritenour struck out six over the last three innings, scoring the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk to Chad Millison in the bottom of the ninth.
1995 Courtland (24-2) - Coach Rick Holcomb’s team swept the Battlefield District, Region II and Group AA state championships behind two ace pitchers and a deep lineup, the Cougars’ season ending with a 3-0 shutout of Brookville in the state final. Pitchers John Snyder and Jeff Kepler led the way, with Snyder going 11-1 with a 0.33 ERA and 140 strikeouts, and Kepler going 11-1 with a 0.88 ERA and 110 strikeouts. Leadoff man Sean Roop hit .355 with three homers and 20 stolen bases, catcher David Fromer hit .360 and shortstop Mark Proctor hit .440. Two years later, Proctor would become the first player in school history to be drafted, when the New York Mets selected him in the 16th round after his senior year.
1994 Paul VI Catholic (18-13) - The Panthers returned much of their core from a team that won the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championship the previous spring, claiming the first state title in program history by winning the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) Division II championship. In the midst of a three-year run of advancing to the state tournament, the program was skippered by coach Mickey Leap, who coached the Panthers from 1989-97 before coaching Sterling’s Park View from 2002-13.
1993 Lake Braddock (22-4) - The Bruins were one out from the program’s first Group AAA state championship when two errors on one play, a dropped fly ball and an errant relay throw, enabled undefeated First Colonial to escape with a 7-6 win in front of a reported 3,896 fans at Fairfax High School. Coach Dan Griel’s team had entered that game on an 11-game winning streak of their own, beating three-time region champion West Springfield in the Northern Region final behind lineup that averaged over 10 runs a game and got at least one home run from all nine regulars. During their regional run, the Bruins beat three pitchers who were previously undefeated - McLean’s Seth Gresigner, a future big leaguer, as well as West Potomac’s Bobby Wilner and West Springfield’s L.J. Yankosky. Nick Rhodes, a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post, paced the lineup by hitting .470 with eight homers and 45 RBI, and Chris Ewald hit .395 with seven homers and 30 RBI. Tom McGinn went 9-1 and Kevin Sigafoes was 7-2 to lead the Bruins’ staff.
1992 Gar-Field (24-2) - The Indians won their final 15 games, avenging a loss in the previous year’s state final by handing West Springfield its first loss of the season in the state semifinals. Coach Tony Labozzetta’s team finished ranked No. 11 nationally by USAToday, getting a game-winning RBI single in the sixth inning by the school’s current football coach, Chris Williams, en route to a 4-3 win over Kecoughtan in the championship game. This after Rhett Pfitzner’s game-winning hit to knock off defending state champion West Springfield in the semifinals. Gar-Field’s pitching staff was anchored by future big leaguer Brian McNichol, who went 10-2 with a 1.43 ERA, and Brian Helmerson, who went 10-0 with a 1.22 ERA and would later pitch at Radford. The Indians’ offense was paced by shortstop Ron Pannell, who hit .453 with seven homers and 33 RBI and would play at George Mason, as well as Brian Jersey (.444, 28 RBI) and Kelvin Parker (.376, 26 RBI). Eight players moved on to play collegiate, seven at the Division I level.
1992 West Springfield (23-2) - The defending Group AAA state champion Spartans won their third consecutive Northern Region championship - the only three-peat in the region’s history - and advanced to the state semifinals before falling to Gar-Field, the team they had beaten in the previous year’s final. Coach Ron Tugwell’s team spent much of the season nationally-ranked by USAToday and reeled off 13 consecutive wins entering the game against Gar-Field, sending six players off to play collegiately at the Division I level. The Spartans avenged their lone earlier loss when L.J. Yankosky tossed a no-hitter to beat Lake Braddock, 3-0, in the Northern District final, then beat Marshall for the region title. Yankosky, a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post, spearheaded a staff that also included standout Jeff Hafer and at one point went a state-record 42 innings without allowing a run.
1991 West Springfield (25-3) - The Spartans, in the fifth year of an unprecedented eight-year stretch in which they advanced to the Northern Region championship game each season, won the second of three straight region titles and claimed the program’s first state title by beating Gar-Field, 7-2, in the Group AAA final. Jimmy Francis paced coach Ron Tugwell’s team by hitting .415, and two underclassmen - L.J. Yankosky and Jeff Hafer - joined senior ace Chad Olms to form a deep pitching staff. Those were four of five future Division I players - catcher Mike Henderson was the other - that formed the core of a talented team. But the Spartans also had luck on their side, with wild pitches allowing them to score winning runs against Jefferson in the region final and Dinwiddie in the state semifinals. Olms finished the season 9-1 after striking out nine in the state final.
1991 Broad Run (20-1) - The Spartans, which had fallen in the Group AA state final the previous spring, avenged that loss by beating Louisa County for a second consecutive Region II championship and then shutout Rustburg, 5-0, for the lone state title in program history. Coach Wayne Todd’s team lost just one game, an extra-inning regular season affair against rival Park View, en route to the third state title by a team from Loudoun County. The team was led by Scott Schultz, Dan Aitcheson and Jason Bagby. Schultz was a first-team All-Met selection by The Washington Post after going 9-0 with a 0.37 ERA and 144 strikeouts, while Aitcheson and Bagby were both first-team all-state selections after pacing the offense. Willie Caton played postseason hero, hitting a game-winning home run to beat Virginia in the state semifinals, then hit a two-run single in the third inning of the championship game to give Justin Bufford, who improved to 7-0 after pitching five shutout innings, and reliever Schultz all the support they needed.
1991 Fairfax (17-4) - The Rebels, led by two future big leaguers in Bill Pulsipher and Brian Buchanan and guided by longtime area baseball and football coach Tom Verbanic, won the Potomac District championship before being eliminated in the first round of the Northern Region Tournament by two-time defending state champion W.T. Woodson. The team spent much of the season ranked nationally by USAToday behind Pulsipher, who was The Washington Post’s All-Met Player of the Year after going 9-2 with a 1.36 ERA and 126 strikeouts while hitting .429 with five homers and 31 RBI and would be drafted in the second round by the New York Mets that June. Buchanan, who would attend the University of Virginia before becoming a first round pick of the New York Yankees in 1994, hit .449 with four homers and 29 RBI.
1990 W.T. Woodson (23-4) - The Cavaliers became the first area team to repeat as state champions, bouncing back from a loss to West Springfield in the Northern Region championship game and shutting out Lafayette in the Group AAA state final. Coach Lee Knupp’s team won its first 12 games to carry what would be a 34-game winning streak from the previous season, and featured All-State pitcher Doug Newstrom, who would later star at Arizona State University. Newstrom pitched a 2-hitter with 13 strikeouts in the state final and had a 17-strikeout performance earlier in the season. Knupp would retire a few years later with 388 wins in 31 seasons.
All-Time Northern Virginia Top 10 Nominees:
2010s (10) - 2016 Chantilly; 2015 Madison; 2015 Stone Bridge; 2014 Loudoun Valley; 2012 Lake Braddock; 2012 Paul VI Catholic; 2011 South County; 2010 West Springfield; 2010 Woodbridge; 2010 Potomac Falls
2000s (14) - 2009 Paul VI Catholic; 2009 West Springfield; 2008 Paul VI Catholic; 2007 Notre Dame Academy; 2007 Paul VI Catholic; 2006 Notre Dame Academy; 2005 Notre Dame Academy; 2004 Notre Dame Academy; 2004 Westfield; 2004 Paul VI Catholic; 2003 Madison; 2002 Madison; 2000 Oakton; 2000 Courtland
1990s (14) - 1998 West Springfield; 1998 Bishop O’Connell; 1997 St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes; 1996 Herndon; 1995 Courtland; 1995 Brentsville District; 1994 Paul VI Catholic; 1993 Lake Braddock; 1992 Gar-Field; 1992 West Springfield; 1991 West Springfield; 1991 Broad Run; 1991 Fairfax; 1990 W.T. Woodson
1980s (8) - 1989 W.T Woodson; 1988 Potomac; 1987 Marshall; 1984 Park View; 1983 Potomac; 1982 Bishop O’Connell; 1980 Robinson; 1980 George Mason
1970s (5) - 1978 Robinson; 1976 Mount Vernon; 1972 Loudoun Valley; 1972 Washington-Lee; 1971 Madison
1960s and earlier (9) - 1968 Madison; 1966 Washington-Lee; 1964 Bishop O’Connell; 1952 Mount Vernon; 1951 Washington-Lee; 1949 Washington-Lee; 1947 George Washington; 1939 Lee-Jackson; 1932 Alexandria
Pictured, clockwise from top left: The 1991 West Springfield team, W.T. Woodson's Doug Newstrom, Herndon's Greg Miller, Ben Curtis and Blair DeHart, Gar-Field's 1992 team, West Springfield's Joe Saunders, and Lake Braddock celebrating a home run by Nick Rhodes.
