January 3 - Northern Virginia witnessed a 2016 that was jam-packed with excitement for local baseball players, coaches and fans.
Behind a deep senior class, Chantilly High School was able to get over the hump and win the 6A state championship, while Jake Agnos wrapped his record-breaking career at Battlefield by sweeping every postseason Player of the Year award. Mountain View advanced to the 5A state final, and Paul VI Catholic made a run to the VISAA Division I state final in Jeff Nolan’s final season as coach.
Up a level, UNC-Wilmington’s Nick Feight, a graduate of Battlefield, was among the nation’s leaders in home runs and led the country in RBI while earning All-American honors. North Carolina’s J.B. Bukauskas, a Stone Bridge grad, was among the nation’s leaders in strikeouts during the college season before starring for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team during its trip through Japan, Chinese Taipei and Cuba over the summer.
Mary Washington won 13 of its first 14 games to climb to as high as No. 12 nationally in the Division III polls, while Marymount’s Frank Leoni was named the Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Saints to 23 wins and to within a game of the conference final.
The summer months also witnessed Leesburg Post 34 winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional and advancing to the American Legion World Series. Loudoun South Little League American’s 9/10 All-Star Team, meanwhile, won state and Southeast Regional titles.
Brandon Guyer, a graduate of Herndon, benefitted from a mid-season trade to the Cleveland Indians, joining a team that advanced to the World Series and playing a key role in the team’s postseason run. Guyer was one of seven players from Northern Virginia to appear in the Major Leagues this year, joining the San Francisco Giants’ Javier Lopez (Robinson) and Jarrett Parker (Colonial Forge), the Miami Marlins’ Justin Bour (Westfield), the Atlanta Braves’ Brandon Snyder (Westfield), the New York Yankees’ Conor Mullee (Broad Run), and Paul Clemens (Robinson), who pitched for both Miami and the San Diego Padres.
Two players hoping to one day reach the big leagues took a step in that direction as high draft picks in the MLB Draft in June. Oakton’s Joe Rizzo was selected in the second round by the Seattle Mariners, and Flint Hill’s Khalil Lee was taken in the third round by the Kansas City Royals.
Here’s a deeper look at the year of baseball in Northern Virginia:
Record-setting Agnos is NOVA Nine Player of the Year; Ford named Coach of the Year
Battlefield senior left-hander Jake Agnos repeated as a member of our NOVA Nine Team, claiming our Player of the Year honors after going 11-0 with a 0.54 ERA with 136 strikeouts to 24 walks in 65 innings, limiting opposing hitters to a .071 average while leading Battlefield to the North Region and 6A state championship games.
Chantilly’s Kevin Ford was named our Coach of the Year after leading the Chargers to the 6A state championship, the first in program history. Chantilly senior Jared DiCesare, who went 11-0 with a 0.57 ERA and 85 strikeouts to just 12 walks in 74 innings, was also named to the team. DiCesare hit .366 with 22 RBI and was named the North Region’s Player of the Year and a first-team all-state selection and All-Met pick by The Washington Post.
Also selected to the NOVA Nine Team were Paul VI Catholic senior Jack Cunningham, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Player of the Year after hitting .413 with 10 doubles, 25 RBI and eight steals, while going 5-3 on the mound with a 0.53 ERA, 52 strikeouts to 10 walks in 53 innings. Oakton’s Joe Rizzo and Flint Hill’s Khalil Lee, who were selected in the second and third rounds, respectively, in Major League Baseball’s Draft, were chosen, as were Kettle Run’s Brenton Doyle, Marshall’s Steven Johel, C.D. Hylton’s Fox Semones and Mountain View’s Alex Smith.
Rizzo, a repeat NOVA Nine selection, saw his numbers drop after a monster junior campaign, but still hit .389 with a .542 on-base average, four home runs and 12 RBI for an undermanned Cougars team, and Lee was named the VISAA Division I State Player of the Year after hitting .471 with a .634 on-base average, six homers and 23 RBI, and going 7-0 with two saves, a 0.33 ERA and 87 strikeouts to just three walks in 43 innings.
“He was the most dominate player that we saw,” Flint Hill coach Tom Verbanic recalled of Lee’s senior campaign. “When he wasn't pitching, he was an outstanding center fielder with four assists and numerous balls run down in the gaps. He was the most complete player that I have seen.”
Doyle, meanwhile, hit .497 with 12 doubles, 12 triples, 27 RBI and stole 12 bases while being named the 4A West Region Player of the Year, Johel was 7-1 with a 0.51 ERA and had 57 strikeouts in 54.2 innings and finished his career with an 18-1 record, Semones hit .452 with 22 RBI and 18 steals and compiled a 4-2 record with an 0.56 ERA and 58 strikeouts to 19 walks in 37.1 innings to earn 6A South Region Player of the Year honors, and Smith hit .382 with a .604 on-base average, had seven doubles, five home runs, 26 RBI, had three walk-off hits and was named the 5A North Region Player of the Year.
Chantilly comes from behind to nip Battlefield for 6A state championship
The 6A state championship was decided in dramatic fashion on a walk off base hit by Chantilly’s Jared Enders, capping off a remarkable seventh-inning comeback as the Chargers rallied for three runs to beat Battlefield, 3-2.
The Chargers were able to break through to win the state title after falling in the state final the previous two seasons. Coach Kevin Ford’s team was led by Enders, a first-team all-state selection, NOVA Nine team member and North Region Player of the Year Jared DiCesare, and Brent Norwood, a first-team North Region selection.
The Chargers went 25-2 record and finished with a 19-game winning streak, topping our Northern Virginia Top 10 Poll and also finishing ranked No. 4 in The Washington Post's metropolitan Top 10.
“This group of players has continually found a way to win and compiled the best record and first state championship in school history,” Ford said. “This team and what they have accomplished has meant a lot to the many people affiliated with our program and community. I was extremely proud to be a part of getting Chantilly baseball to where we are today.”
Battlefield finished 23-5, with three of those losses coming against Chantilly, including in the North Region championship game. The Bobcats finished No. 2 in our Northern Virginia Top 10.
Other 6A teams appearing in the final rankings included: No. 5 C.D. Hylton (19-7), which fell in the state semifinals to Battlefield after winning the South Region title; No. 7 Madison (20-4), the defending state champion, which won its third straight Conference 6 title before being upset by Centreville in the region quarterfinals; and No. 10 West Springfield (18-5).
North Region champ Mountain View falls in 5A state final to Nansemond River
Mountain View outlasted Potomac twice in one-run games to win the 5A Conference 15 and North Region, claiming the first regional title in school history before advancing to the state final.
Both teams would fall to eventual state champion Nansemond River, with Potomac losing in the semifinals and Mountain View in the final. Three Wildcats errors were the deciding factor in a 5-3 loss in the final.
Mountain View coach Craig Lopez was named the conference and region Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to a 21-5 record and a No. 4 ranking in our final poll.
“This year’s group of players have been particularly special to me,” Lopez said. “They have been leaders on and off the field and have set the standard for future Wildcat teams. They have made this year one of the most memorable in my 25 years of coaching high school baseball and they will be greatly missed.”
Potomac finished the season 20-8 and ranked No. 8 in our Top 10, with Evan Antonellis and Alex Burke each earning all-state honors.
“While we were limited offensively, our defense as a team may have been the best I’ve ever had,” Covington said. “Overall, a great year even though we didn't finish the job.”
Marshall (19-2) was the other 5A team to appear in our final rankings, finishing at No. 6 after winning the Conference 13 title and having its season ended in the regional quarterfinals.
Doyle leads Kettle Run to 4A state tournament appearance
Unfazed by moving up a division to 4A, Kettle Run set a school record for wins, finishing 20-3 and ranked No. 3 in our Northern Virginia Top 10 after winning the Conference 22 championship and advancing to the West Region final and state semifinals.
Ty Thorpe was the conference’s Coach of the Year and a deep roster led by Brenton Doyle led the team on a 17-game winning streak before falling to Liberty Christian Academy in the region final and Hanover in the state semifinals.
“This team achieved new heights in our program,” Thorpe said. “We have been to the regional semifinals five times and had come up empty each time.
“Being part of the state tournament was an experience these guys will never forget.”
In 4A Conference 21B, Loudoun Valley ran the table in the conference finishing 10-0 during the regular season, then finished 17-5 overall after falling to Millbrook, 3-2, in the West Region quarterfinals. The Vikings had nine All-Conference selections, including first-team all-state catcher Hunter Gore.
Plank leads Riverside to 12 victories in school’s inaugural season
In the inaugural year of the Riverside program, the Rams went 12-8 under longtime former Stone Bridge coach Sam Plank.
Despite not having a single senior on the roster, Riverside had a successful season, however, were defeated in the opening round of the Conference 28 Tournament, 6-4, by Culpeper County.
“It’s an opportunity to build another program, and to be in the building, which I want to be in from this point forward,” Plank said. “It's going to take a lot of patience. But that kind of excites me as well.”
Paul VI Catholic advances to VISAA Division I state final in Nolan’s final season
With the announcement prior to the postseason at it would be coach Jeff Nolan’s final season, Paul VI Catholic charged into the VISAA Division I state tournament.
After shutting out Potomac School and Benedictine in the first two rounds, the Panthers came up a game short of sending their coach off with a title, falling, 5-1, to Collegiate School in the state final. Paul VI would finish its season 24-8 and ranked No. 9 in our Northern Virginia Top 10.
“We had a team that was fun to be around, every day, and which had great leadership and desire, one which worked very hard,” Nolan said. “It was probably the most fun I have had in my coaching career, so I probably enjoyed each day more than I ever have and appreciated both our players and what each day brought a bit more than ever before.”
Potomac School clinched its second straight Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference championship in walk off fashion on Ryan McAndrews’ game-winning base hit to beat Maret, 2-1. Led by second-team all-state selection Eric Thronson, the Panthers received an invitation to the VISAA state tournament, falling to Paul VI in the opening round.
Flint Hill also appeared in the VISAA state tournament, and the Huskies advanced to the semifinals before falling to Collegiate School.
Leesburg Post 34 wins Mid-Atlantic Regional to advance to American Legion World Series
Matt Eberhart drove home the game-winning run with a walk off sacrifice fly to send host Leesburg Post 34 past Flemington, N.J. Post 159, 4-3, in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game in early August.
The win put Post 34, which beat four state champions in the regional, in the American Legion World Series later that month in North Carolina. The team would drop its three games at the World Series, but simply advancing to Legion Baseball’s premier event was an accomplishment for a team that wasn’t considered one of the regional favorites.
Leesburg overcame deficits in three of its four wins at the regional tournament, finding ways to respond late in games behind an experienced core that had helped Post 34 advance to the regional semifinals last year. Kurtis Meyer was named the regional Most Valuable Player, while Cameron Eck was 5-for-9 in the tournament, Eberhart hit .412 (7-for-17) and drove in six runs and TJ Holdredge hit .353 (6-for-17) with a team-high seven RBI. Zach Costello and Jake Cunningham each hit .389 (7-for-18).
“We’d go down a couple runs, [but] the guys knew they could come back,” Post 34 coach Brenton Peters said. “Knowing my team had confidence to do that, that’s a great feeling.”
Herndon grad Guyer helps key Indians’ run to World Series
Brandon Guyer made the most of an opportunity when he was dealt at Major League Baseball’s trade deadline from the last-place Tampa Bay Rays to a Cleveland Indians team that would win the American League Central Division, then claim the AL pennant and push the Chicago Cubs to a Game 7 before falling in the World Series.
The Herndon graduate terrorized left-handed pitchers, hitting .336 against southpaws in 2016. He had several big postseason hits - including an RBI double to spark the Indians’ eighth-inning rally in Game 7 - and he led the big leagues in times being hit by a pitch for the second consecutive season.
All-American Feight, USA Baseball’s Bukauskas among college baseball’s best
Battlefield graduate Nick Feight was named to several NCAA Division I All-American teams during his sophomore season at UNC-Wilmington, as the catcher turned in one of the country’s best offensive seasons. The Colonial Athletic Association’s Player of the Year hit .349, tied for second nationally with 21 home runs and led the country with a school-record 91 RBI.
Feight’s teammate, Forest Park grad Brian Mims, also appeared on several All-American teams after hitting .371 and finishing third nationally in runs scored (71) and seventh in hits (96).
J.B. Bukauskas, a graduate of Stone Bridge, also emerged on the national scene during his sophomore season at the University of North Carolina. Bukauskas was among the nation’s strikeout leaders while going 7-2 with 111 strikeouts and a 3.10 ERA in 78.1 innings for the Tar Heels, then pitched 21.2 innings without allowing an earned run while playing with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team during friendship series in Japan, Chinese Taipei and Cuba.
Stars made deep run at Perfect Game’s Underclass World Series
Stars Showcase Baseball’s 17U Red team became the first Northern Virginia-based team to advance to the quarterfinal round at Perfect Game’s WWBA Underclass World Championships in October.
Coached by Carson Carroll and Shawn Camp, the Stars won their pool and advanced through two rounds of elimination play before falling to Florida’s FTB55 Elite, 4-3, in extra innings during the quarterfinals. The event consisted of 250 teams from across the country and is annually one of the top showcases of underclass and uncommitted players from across the country.
