Spring Forward: NOVA and DC Teams to Watch

January 20, 2020
John Nolan
Virginia Scouting Director & Managing Editor

Follow @PBRVirginiaDC
Facebook + Periscope + Instagram

Welcome to 2020 and the return of our Spring Forward series. While it may still be mid-January, the high school season is just around the corner, with public school tryouts beginning in a little over a month. In February, we will begin our detailed season preview, including Region breakdowns, Power 25 reveal, and the Preseason All-PBR Team. In the meantime, we will begin gearing up for the season by highlighting some storylines that we are keeping our eyes on this spring in this series.

This week, we will be looking at the strongest teams on paper for the upcoming season. Many of these teams will end up in our Preseason Power 25, some will not, but nonetheless these are teams that we think are loaded with talent and have a chance to make a run at a State Championship in 2020. We will get into more detail on these teams and teams not discussed here in our upcoming Season Preview. Today we will discuss teams from Northern Virginia and DC, where there are a few juggernauts this spring.

Bishop O'Connell

O'Connell was a WCAC semifinalist in 2019, taking the first game from St. John's in their semifinal series before dropping the final two games. The Knights are even more stacked with talent than they were last year, and should challenge for a WCAC and VISAA Division I championship this spring. O'Connell will have a full healthy season from senior lefty Jake Berry (Virginia), as well as the return of fellow senior Corey Knauf. The Knights will also benefit from adding incoming transfers Jake Feffer and Jack O'Connor (Virginia) to their rotation, giving them depth. Senior shortstop Eddie Eisert (NC State) can also close games again as needed. Ryan Bhojwani returns to the top of the lineup, with seniors Joe Suarez and Riley O'Donovan (Lynchburg) as filling out the top part of what should be a potent lineup. Expect to see pro scouts out at O'Connell games this spring, as both Eisert and Berry are very high on follow lists and both could be selected in June.

Highland School

The Hawks were the VISAA Division II runners-up in 2019, and while they will be hurt by the departure of long-time lineup fixtures such as Ty Gravett (Lynchburg), Dylan Fisher (Lynchburg), Luke Burner (WV Wesleyan), and Joe DeBardi (Mt. St. Mary's), Highland is going to benefit from the departure of Miller School from Division II to Division I, leaving them and Greenbrier Christian as the favorites in the Division II this spring. The Hawks will be deep on the mound with senior Blake Fisher (Lynchburg) back as well as Adam Dressler (Messiah), Tyler Kaltreider (VMI), Ed Wagner (George Washington), Jackson Gimbel, and incoming transfer Eric Wilson in the mix. Fisher, Wagner, Eddie Gimbel (Lynchburg), and Blake Cuddington will be back to anchor the middle of the lineup, and the return of catcher Garrett Pancione from injury in 2019 will solidify the Hawks defense and add even more depth to the lineup.

James Madison

Year in, year out, Madison is always in the mix, but this year's group has a chance to be exceptional, especially on the mound. Madison was going to be deep regardless this spring with senior righthanders Ryan Murphy (James Madison), Mason Satterfield (Washington & Lee), and Michael Schultz (College of Charleston). On top of that trio, the addition of sophomore James Triantos (North Carolina) by transfer from St. John's gives them an elite top of the rotation arm and middle of the lineup bat in a player that was First Team All-Met as a freshman in the WCAC. Senior catcher Chris Polymeropolous (Roanoke) is also back as the defensive leader behind the dish and he and Triantos figure to hold down the middle of the lineup.

Lake Braddock

The defending Class 6 State Champions lost a pair of key pieces to graduation in Lyle Miller-Green (George Mason) and Bobby Leitzel (Marymount), but man do they have a lot of talent returning. Senior lefty Jay Cassady (Christopher Newport) returns as well as a stacked group of 2021s, highlighted by OF Ryan Cuadros, C Grant Hartman, LHP/1B Andrew Schaeb (George Mason), and LHP/1B Michael Weidinger (William & Mary). The talent on this roster will give them depth on the mound and in the lineup again, and gives them a very good chance to defend their State Title.

Patriot

The Pioneers just missed the State Tournament in 2019, falling in the Region semifinals with a young team that mostly returns this spring. Senior Riley Eikhoff (Coastal Carolina) will be back to anchor a rotation that is very deep, featuring veteran arms such as Luke Basler, Bert Redding (Wake Tech CC), AJ Escobar as well as a talented core of youngsters, highlighted by lefties Kevin Warunek and Eli Serrano (NC State). The lineup is also back and mostly intact, with Serrano and fellow sophomores Kyle Vandenburg and Mason Balsis (Virginia) forming the core of the lineup, with junior table-setter Brian Wilson back at the top of the lineup and senior Conor Jersey (Patrick Henry CC) returns from a mid-season injury. With all of that talent combined with the experience that the youngsters got last year, look for the Pioneers to be a threat to win the Class 6 title.

St. John's College

The Cadets captured their sixth straight WCAC title in 2019 and capped off the season defeating Wilson to win the DCSAA Championship as well. St. John's finished the season 30-3 and ended the year as the top ranked team in our VA/DC Power 25. The Cadets will suffer from some graduation departures as well losing a handful of key players to transfer. Gone off of last year's team is middle infield and rotation combo Ian Remalia (Liberty) and James Triantos (North Carolina). While the Cadets have lost a lot of talent, they tend to do that every year and yet they still are among the best teams in Virginia and DC, it should be expected that 2020 is no different than any of the previous years. The Cadets rotation is again deep and talented, featuring seniors Luke Schauer (Virginia), Chris Bookhultz (Maryland), Tyler Brooks (Washington & Jefferson), and Alexander Wojie (Washington MD) as well as junior Ethan Mishra (VCU). The St. John's lineup will also be talented from top to bottom, featuring players such as Quinn Allen (East Carolina), Alex Garvey (Washington & Jefferson), Casey Gibbs (VCU), John Gibson (Virginia Tech), DM Jefferson (Notre Dame), Justin Riemer (Wright State), and Dylan Winebrenner (Iona).