NOTEBOOK STORIES
March 11 - Nearly 70 of the area’s top high school players and 20 coaches are expected to be in attendance for tomorrow night’s Northern Virginia Baseball Media Day, which will be hosted by the magazine at the Executive Conference & Training Center in Sterling.
More than half of the players on our NOVA Nine Preseason Watchlist and 15 of the area’s 16 returning all-region players will be on hand during a press conference and breakout session with media members. The press conference will lead off with coach Kevin Ford and players Chris Pitura and Hayden Dux from defending 6A state champion Chant...
March 9 - Reigning 6A state runner-up Battlefield was voted as the No. 1 team in the Preseason Northern Virginia Top 10 Poll, voted upon by the magazine’s 43-member selection committee of area coaches and media members.
This year’s poll is once again sponsored by Prime Time Baseball LLC in Alexandria.
The Bobcats, who finished No. 2 in our final poll last year after their dramatic loss to Chantilly in the state final, return first-team all-state outfielder Brent Boggs, second-team all-region catcher Tyler Solomon and a slew of other key players. Coach Jay Burkhart’s team hopes to continue the...
March 9 - Freshman Logan Driscoll continued his impressive rookie campaign and George Mason University gained a split in a midweek non-conference series with Radford, beating the Highlanders, 6-4, yesterday afternoon in Fairfax.
The Patriots (5-8) dropped the first game in the series, 9-4, on Tuesday after Radford (3-10) sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs on four hits in the top of the 10th. Driscoll’s two-run single had tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.
Yesterday, six unearned runs by the Highlanders and a four-run fourth inning propelled the Patriots. Driscol...
March 7 - Brandon Ginch was named yesterday at the Capital Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week after the Fairfax High School graduate hit .444 over five games last week for Christopher Newport University.
The junior became the first Captains player in 15 years to hit for the cycle when he went 4-for-4 with five RBI and three runs against Eastern Mennonite, finishing his week by totaling 11 RBI. He had a hit in four games, drove in a run in all five, and homered twice. Ginch was 8-for-18 at the plate for the week.
The for Rebels standout was a three-time first-team All-Liberty District sel...
March 7 - Stafford returns the majority of its starters and adds an impact transfer to what could be one of the top teams in the 5A North Region.
Count coach Tommy Harrison among those who are optimistic about the prospects of the Indians this spring.
“I’m excited, the community is excited,” said Harrison, who is entering his ninth season. “The word on the street is we are the team to beat like Mountain View was last year. We’ve got a lot of seniors and a lot of experience. This bunch has played together for three or four years now.”
Second-team all-conference pitcher Marty Tolson was the lone...
March 5 - Freshmen Jared DiCesare and Logan Driscoll have assumed key roles in the lineup and rotation during the early part of George Mason University’s season.
The two local products have become regulars as the Patriots (4-7) look to bounce back from a rough 2016. Driscoll (Lake Braddock) has excelled while hitting in the middle of George Mason’s order, and DiCesare (Chantilly) has given coach Bill Brown a versatile two-way player.
After struggling at the plate over the first two weeks of the season, DiCesare broke out with two hits in Wednesday’s 6-5 win at Longwood. But it’s on the mound w...
March 4 - The Vienna Riverdogs are moving operations to Loudoun County and will begin playing their home games at Rock Ridge High School this coming summer, the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League announced this week.
The Riverdogs, who have been skippered by founder Bruce Hall since beginning play in 2010, had called Madison High School home during their first six seasons in the CRCBL. The relationship between the club and Madison, however, soured this past summer and the club decided to seek another home field.
“This past season many restrictions were put on the Riverdogs management in...
March 3 - Frederick Community College sophomore Jett Manning has committed to play at the University of Alabama, FCC announced yesterday.
A 2015 graduate of Battlefield High School, Manning hit .412 with 33 RBI and 53 runs as a freshman last year for the Cougars. The switch-hitting infielder has been even better this season, hitting .473 with 12 extra-base hits, 14 stolen bases and 17 RBI for FCC (15-3), which is currently ranked No. 15 in the NJCAA Division II rankings.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to play baseball at the University of Alabama,” said Manning, who was also conside...
March 3 - Despite the season starting nearly two weeks ago, Freedom-Woodbridge is still seeking a head baseball coach.
The school’s athletics director, Steve Bryson, was notified in January that former coach Derek Taylor would not be returning due his schedule with a new job. Bryson reportedly interviewed two candidates last month for the opening, but did not extend a job offer to either.
The Eagles have struggled since the school fielded its first team in 2005. Last year, they went 0-20, suffering a 36-0 defeat in their final regular season game and had to pull out of the 6A Conference 4 Tour...
