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Welcome to our 2020 VHSL Previews. In each preview, we will give you a brief recap of the 2019 season along with the breakdown of each Region and what the rules are to qualify for postseason play under the new alignment. We will also highlight the top prospects in each Classification, as well as some teams to watch during the 2020 season.

2019 was Fluvanna County's year as they took the State Championship. In Regions A and B Brentsville defeated Warren County to win the Region B championship and Tabb took the Region A title over Park View (South Hill). Brentsville fell via a walk-off home run in the State semis to Fluvanna and Tabb finished as the State runners-up, also falling at Fluvanna's hands.

Region A didn't lose any members in the new alignment, but they did pick up Lafayette as the Rams dropped from Class 4 down to Class 3. This is a significant add to the Region as Lafayette was the defending Class 4 State Champs. The Rams had been in Class 3 and won the 2015 State Championship at that level before bumping up. Region B received a significant facelift in the new alignment. Headed out of the Region is Culpeper, Thomas Jefferson (Richmond), John Marshall, George Wythe (Richmond), and Spotsylvania. Coming in this year will be Central (Woodstock), Goochland, Maggie Walker, and Independence, with Lightridge to join next spring after the school opens. Goochland and Maggie Walker have been among the most consistently strong teams in the eastern portion of Class 2 for years, with Maggie Walker defeating Goochland to win the 2016 Class 2 State Championship.

 

Top Prospects in Regions A and B

Name	School	Class	Position	Commitment
Ethan Applegate	Independence	2022	OF
Zachary Carl	New Kent	2022	RHP
Alex Chini	Colonial Heights	2022	RHP
Brandon Clarke	Independence	2021	LHP	Alabama
Vincent DiMauro	Brentsville	2020	RHP	High Point
Bryce Dolby	Independence	2022	RHP	Virginia Tech
Austin Fitzgerald	Brentsville	2020	C	Mary Washington
Bradley Gagen	Independence	2022	LHP	Tennessee
Timothy Gillen	Lafayette	2020	3B/RHP
Josh Hand	Independence	2022	OF
Luke Hanson	Lafayette	2022	SS/RHP	Virginia
Joe Hardy	James Monroe	2022	3B
Jordan Hayes	Maggie Walker	2020	OF	Marymount
Mickey Haynes	Brentsville	2021	SS
Nicholas Hess	Colonial Heights	2021	RHP/1B
Kaden Hillburger	Tabb	2022	SS/RHP
Tucker Love	Tabb	2022	SS
Connor Kennedy	Tabb	2020	C	Mary Washington
Nathaniel Mack	Tabb	2020	RHP	Lynchburg
Brendan McComber	Hopewell	2020	LHP	Mary Washington
Aidan McDonald	Independence	2022	SS
Zachary Miller	Colonial Heights	2023	C
Andrew Ramos	Lafayette	2020	RHP	Randolph-Macon
Nick Redman	New Kent	2022	LHP
Gavin Richardson	New Kent	2021	RHP
Niko Wiles	New Kent	2022	RHP
Nicholas Willard	York	2020	RHP	Liberty

 

2020 Region A

Colonial Heights	Hopewell
Lakeland	New Kent
Norcom	Park View-South Hill
Petersburg	Phoebus
Southampton	Tabb
Booker T. Washington	York
Lafayette

Region A is an all-in Region that uses power points to seed a 13 team tournament. The top three seeds get byes into the quarterfinals.

 

2020 Region B

Northwestern	Other
Brentsville	Armstrong
Central (Woodstock)	Goochland
George Mason	Independence
Manassas Park	James Monroe
William Monroe	Maggie Walker
Skyline
Warren County

Region B will take its twelve teams into an all-in Region Tournament. Power points will be used to determine seeding and the top four teams will receive a bye into the quarterfinals.

 

Teams to Watch in 2020

Colonial Heights
The Colonials came up one win short of a State Tournament berth in 2019, falling to Park View in the Region A semifinals. Heights has some interesting talent on the mound, led by junior righty Nicholas Hess, look for sophomore Alex Chini to potentially factor in on the mound. Freshman catcher and pitcher Zach Miller could also contribute on a team that should improve as the season goes on.

Brentsville
The Tigers won Region B each of the last two years and in each of the last two seasons, saw their seasons end in gut-wrenching fashion in the State Tournament. Brentsville's roster has also been gutted by graduation with the departure of top arm and All-State performer Jake DeLisi (King) as well as All-State bat Luke Binstead and other seniors Sam Beard (Patrick Henry CC), Billy Hoad, and Alex Seymour (Fairmont State). Also gone this spring will be senior righty Vince DiMauro (High Point), who earned All-State honors as a junior and is out with an injury. The Tigers do have some talent coming back and will compete to defend their Region titles with a younger group of players. Senior Braedon DeSlippe will be back to provide a veteran lineup piece, and seniors Austin Fitzgerald (Mary Washington) and Brett Forseth can contribute in many places. The development of junior infielder Mickey Haynes will be key for the Tigers as takes over full time at shortstop and will become one of the focal points offensively for Brentsville.

Independence
One of the new kids in Region B this year are the new kids in general, as Independence opened in Brambleton in central Loudoun County this fall and will play their first varsity season this spring. The Tigers will play in the Dulles District during the regular season with primarily Class 4 schools, but play in Class 3 for the playoffs the next two seasons as they fill the school. This year the school will have no seniors and only a limited junior class as the school pulled students from Briar Woods, Rock Ridge, John Champe, and Freedom (South Riding), among others. The Tigers figure to immediately be competitive with the windfall of talent that transferred in to open the building. A pair of sophomore arms who were at Paul VI last year have a chance to give them a potentially dynamic 1-2 punch this year in lefty Bradley Gagen (Tennessee) and righty Bryce Dolby (Virginia Tech). An injury to junior lefty Brandon Clarke (Alabama) is the only thing preventing Independence from having the most talented rotation in Region B. Sophomores Josh Hand and Aidan McDonald are a pair of highly talented bats as well for a young team that should be a force immediately.

Lafayette
The Rams slide down to Class 3 after capturing the Class 4 State Championship in 2019, taking advantage of the rain delay in the tournament to use Geo Rivera (Old Dominion) twice to get to the State title game, and then winning an entertaining game over Riverside to claim the title. Rivera has graduated, as has Ricky Sullivan, depriving the Rams of two All-State bats and their ace. Despite those losses, the bulk of the rest of the roster is back, with a good group of 2020s led by All-State outfielder Thomas McLaughlin and pitcher Andrew Ramos (Randolph-Macon). Look for sophomore Luke Hanson (Virginia) to have a larger role on the mound and move into the middle of the lineup along with seniors Timothy Gillen, Jacob Golub, Michael LaBella, and Ryan LaBella. 

New Kent 
The Trojans are coming off of what was an overall tough 2019. They did pick some good wins along the way last season, knocking off Colonial Heights, Tabb, and Grafton during the season. New Kent is a younger team but they have an interesting group of sophomore and junior pitchers who could shape into a deep rotation that turns the Trojans into a Region A dark horse by the season's end.

Park View (South Hill)
The Green Dragons were the Region A runners-up in 2019 and went 22-3 on the season. The loss of All-State arm Justyn Hudson and All-State bat Cameron Sheets to graduation will hurt Park View this spring. Despite those losses, expect the Green Dragons to be in the mix again late in the season.

Tabb
The Tigers finished 2019 as the Region A champs and the State Runners-up. They are going to suffer at the hands of graduation, losing All-State players Brandon Marello, Zach Coldsnow, Ben Wilson, and Joel Martin. While those losses will hurt, seniors Nathaniel Mack (Lynchburg) and Connor Kennedy (Mary Washington) are back and talented sophomores Kaden Hillburger and Tucker Love should step in to contribute and keep Tabb in the mix in June.

 

 

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