September 7 - 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 prior to 1970:
1968 Madison (19-2) - The Warhawks won the first-ever Northern Region championship and claimed the first state tournament to be held since 1954, thus becoming the state’s first team to win a district, region and state title in the same season. Coach Tom Christie’s team was led by future big league pitcher Mike Wallace, a left-hander who went 12-0 and pitched a complete game in a 4-3 win over Highland Springs in the state final. One of the team’s top offensive threats, two-way standout Ronnie Slingerman, hit a two-run home run to provide the winning margin in the final and later played at High Point and in the Chicago White Sox’ organization. Wallace would lead the Warhawks back to the state final the following spring and finished with 26 career victories before being drafted in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Phillies. He would pitch in 117 games over five years with four clubs before retiring in 1977.
1966 Washington-Lee - The Generals were in the midst of winning their district championship each season during the 1960s when they won the Potomac District title that spring. The annual region and state tournaments were still two years from being established. Coach Del Norwood’s team was led by future professional pitchers Clay Kirby and Mike Slade, and also featured a sophomore left-hander in Jerry Tassa who would be drafted three times. Norwood, a former Marine and professional pitcher in his own right, skippered the Generals to a 420-217 record from 1960-87. Kirby - who snapped Bishop O’Connell’s 42-game winning streak the previous spring - was taken in the third round of the Major League Baseball Draft that spring by the St. Louis Cardinals, won 75 games over eight big league seasons and a World Series ring with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975. Slade was taken in the fifth round out of high school by the Chicago White Sox the following spring, then again in the seventh round out of Florida State in 1970 by the Washington Senators and reached as high as Double-A during his three pro seasons. Tassa, meanwhile, was taken in the eighth round out of high school in 1968 by the Baltimore Orioles, then in the second round in 1969 by the Senators and the fourth round in 1970 by the Orioles, but never pitched professionally following his career at Wingate University.
1964 Bishop O’Connell (17-0) - The Knights were in the midst of a 42-game winning streak and three consecutive Washington Catholic League championships when they ran the table that spring. Coach Al Burch’s team outscored their opponents 157-32 for the season, with the runs-allowed number becoming even more impressive when considering over a third of the runs were scored by Yorktown in a 15-11 win. A pitching staff led by left-hander Charlie Boone, who went 9-0 that season and a perfect 18-0 in his career, also included Pat Laing, Tom Conaty and Bill Rubel and combined to post shutouts in their first five games. Dave Kirchgessner hit .425 to pace the offense, which was also led by Joe Kirchner, Chuck Hines, Charles Jackson, John Hickey and Greg Gibadlo. A plaque honoring the program’s winning streak hangs in Cooperstown, N.Y., at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Burch would coach the Knights from 1963-77, compiling a 262-69 record before becoming the school’s longtime principal.
1952 Mount Vernon (21-2) - The Majors won their second district title in three years, beating Washington-Lee, 10-0, in the Northern Virginia championship game in a season where no state tournament was held. Coach Harry Lee’s team was dubbed the ‘mythical’ state champion and was invited to play in the prestigious Southeastern Regional Baseball Tournament against the state champions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, barnstorming its way to Gadsden, AL, by scrimmaging ‘mill teams’ on its trip down. The Majors then beat the state champs from Tennessee in the quarterfinals and Florida in the semifinals before falling to Georgia’s Richmond Academy, which was in the midst of winning seven straight state titles. Lee coached the program to four Northern Virginia titles during his tenure from 1945-54, then served as the school’s first athletic director for a number of years.
1949-51 Washington-Lee - The Generals won the program’s lone state championship in 1949, then claimed the unofficial title a year later, when they went 19-1 in a season which had no state tournament. Their only loss in that 1950 season came to Mount Vernon, which by virtue of the win won the district. That year also saw Washington-Lee play under the lights on its home field, doing so some 38 years before the Chicago Cubs became the last Major League team to install lights. The 1951 team beat Mount Vernon, which had gone 19-0 during the regular season, in a best-of-three series to claim the district crown. There was also not a state tournament held that season. Coach Pete Rockwell skippered all three of these Generals teams, then won his last district title with the program in 1953, when a team led by Don Kildoo advanced to the state final before falling to Granby. 1947 George Washington - The Presidents returned several lettermen and also got a lift by two returning servicemen who had previously won letters before serving in World War II when catcher Buzzy Brown and outfielder Marshall Boaz joined the team. Coach Ray Sanger’s group played a 16-game regular season schedule which included home-and-home series against Falls Church, Fairfax, Washington-Lee and Mount Vernon. The Prexies were part of a ‘Big 3’ that included Washington-Lee and Fredericksburg’s James Monroe, and were crowned the state champions. They repeated as district champs the following year before falling to Woodrow Wilson in the state tournament. The 1948 title would be the program’s last-known championship prior to merging with Hammond and T.C. Williams in 1971.
1939 Lee-Jackson - Prior to moving down Route 1 and becoming Mount Vernon High School in the fall, the Little Generals won their district and the Fairfax County championship in the spring. Coach Al Omohundro’s program joined Washington-Lee and Lee-Jackson as the first Northern Virginia baseball powers, winning five county championships from 1929-39, and he would then lead Mount Vernon to a district title in 1940 before being drafted to serve in World War II. The 1939 team claimed the championship for its district which included teams from Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, as well as the county title featuring only Fairfax teams. There was no state tournament that season.
1932 Alexandria - The first Northern Virginia baseball power, the Twins won five district championships from 1924-34, and this particular spring they claimed their first undisputed state championship. Coach Levvy’s team beat Fredericksburg High in a 12-inning affair in Quantico to claim the East Division state championship, with Vinton High claiming the West Division state title. Alexandria, which became George Washington High School in 1937, also won state titles in football and basketball - the only known Virginia school to win all three titles during the same school year.
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: Bishop O'Connell coach Al Burch, Washington-Lee coach Pete Rockwell, Madison's Mike Wallace, the 1947 George Washington team, O'Connell's Greg Gibadlo, Mount Vernon coach Harry Lee and Washington-Lee's Clay Kirby.
