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VHSL Class 6 Previews: Region D

Centreville Wildcats  

2024 Record: 7-16

There were growing pains in 2024 for the Wildcats but they picked up one of the biggest wins of the year against the top seeded Yorktown in the region quarterfinals.They would end up getting knocked out by the 6A runner up South Lakes. In 2025 they return a veteran roster that looks to turn things around. Caysen Chadha, Dylan Hassan (Mary Washington), Graham Rosenberg, Thomas Soules, Ian Weber (Washington & Lee), and Ben Wells (Washington & Jefferson) all return with experience under their belt. Michael Gambone was a very important arm for the Wildcats throughout the season and looks to be the same heading into this spring. This is a offense capable of putting up runs, they will just need arm depth behind Gambone throughout the year.

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Chantilly Chargers 

2024 Record: 11-9

The Chargers had some quality wins under new head coach, Eric Crozier. Chantilly defeated Madison, South Lakes, and Lake Braddock just to name a few, but what can we expect in 2025? Well, one thing is for certain, we can expect a lot of the same faces. Chantilly should return eight of their nine everyday guys from last year, as well as a large portion of their pitching staff. Connor Morgan, Ajay Parikh (Seton Hill), Alex Caywood (Washington & Lee), Nick Caywood (Washington & Lee), and Sean Kelley are some names that anchored the front of that order. Like to order, the pitching rotation brings back a lot of the same faces. Tyler Katz, Luke Tilley (Eastern Mennonite), and Alex Caywood did a lot of the heavy lifting last year, but do not forget about the arms of Tanner Garey, Kevin Wozniak, and the intriguing arm of Parikh. The team as a whole has experience and pitching staff depth to allow for the Chargers to take another step forward in 2025.

 

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George C. Marshall Statesmen  

2024 Record: 5-15

The Statesmen will have a ton to replace heading into 2025. Not only did they lose some big arms on the mound in Noah Grossman and Vincent Salvo, but they also lost essentially their entire lineup. Starting shortstop Will Thomas (Eastern Michigan) is gone so they will have big hole to fill at a pretty important position. They do return Will Schroen who could once again manage the catching duties for Marshall. While there is a lot to figure out, the Statesmen bring back long time contributor Nathan Lake (Shippensburg), as well as junior right hander Jonah Maco. Those two arms will give a solid foundation for this staff, but they have a lot of offensive production to replace from a 5-15 team.

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Herndon Hornets  

2024 Record: 11-12

It was a .500 season across the board in 2024, splitting the season as a whole, as well as splitting every district home and home series. Moving to 2025, the Hornets return nine starters and eight arms from last year. Kyler Rodgers (Eastern Mennonite), JoJo Palma, Mitchell Cazenas, Lukas Lambrinides, and Brayden Humphreys are all contributors coming back. Humphreys had a major impact in 2024 and the Hornets are hopeful to have him back at some point during this season. In addition to that group of seniors, the Hornets return six juniors that could play big roles this year. Hayden Rita, Chase Brown, Jackson Beasley, David Castillo, Charlie Morgan, and Drew Patton are all names to remember. A pair of sophomores in Noah Lambrinides and Noah Wantuck made big contributions at different points last season. Noah Lambrinides hit over .300 and earned Honorable Mention All-District honors, while Wantuck anchored things behind the plate about a third of the way into the season. Herndon will need identify their frontline arm after the loss of James Beasley (Princeton) and establish some depth in that bullpen in order to challenge in 2025.

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Langley Saxon  

2024 Record: 13-10

There will be a new look Langley in 2025. Not only is there a turnover for the coaching staff, but there is a fairly large turnover for the roster as well. The Saxon will bring back around three arms and three positional players from last season. While it will be a very tough road in their district and region, having some upperclass arms like Nick Newburn (Penn), Colin Buckley (Marymount), and Vinnie Rana (Brandeis) always helps out. Seniors Dylan Raufer and Tommy Sharpe could hold down a pair of outfield spots and bring contributions to the offensive lineup. While there is not a ton of experienced offensive production in this lineup, look for some younger names like Daggu Rana, Luke Murphy, and Trent O'Malley to make an impact earlier rather than later. This may be something that takes time, but Coach Hahne has plenty of experience building a program and navigating his way through a season in route to a state tournament. 

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Madison Warhawks  

2024 Record: 15-10

The Warhawks were just short of clinching a spot in the 6A state tournament when they fell to the eventual state champions McLean in the region semifinals. They bring back an experienced group that has state title hopes. Chase Dorsey (Maryland), Niko Papathanasiou (James Madison), Hector Orozco (Roanoke), Kyle Tyrrell (Roanoke), Nathan Toundreault (Salisbury), and Cael Yates are some of the core that returns with experience for the Warhawks. Yates threw big innings last spring and looks to continue to have that workload. Toundreault should also help out with duties on the mound, but they will need to have more depth on the mound to make a state title run. Luke Ayer is a very intriguing candidate that could give them some depth as well. He has the stuff to win battles versus good hitters and is quickly becoming one of the more intriguing uncommitted arms in the state. This is always a well coached group and we would expect no less than for them to make a deep playoff run.

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McLean Highlanders  

2024 Record: 19-10

The defending Class 6 State Champs are back and have the goods to make another run at the title. They return six positional players, two starters on the mound, and depth behind those two. Staff ace Alex Gonzalez (Cincinnati) returns after a dominant 2024. In addition to Gonzalez, it sounds like Christian Dray (Richmond) is healthy and if it is anything like how it was trending early last spring, he could be a gamechanger for this staff. Senior Brennan Core should give major contributions in the lineup and on the mound and Jack Dailey (UVA Wise) will add quality depth to this staff as well. Offensively, 1st Team All-State infielder Ethan Ball (Virginia Tech) is back for his senior season. Ball is joined by fellow seniors Gabriel Pegues (Lynchburg) and Aydin Prell in the lineup. They have a few underclassmen that could see some time for the Highlanders, but it is usually best to let them find their way into the lineup and figure out their fit. What is missing? Any time you lose your shortstop and catcher, there will be question marks, especially when those spots are filled by younger, less experienced players. If they can figure those positions out, the Highlanders may be odds on favorites in Class 6.

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Oakton Cougars  

2024 Record: 14-8

The Cougars are coming off of an up and down 2024 that saw them defeat Class 6 power Madison twice, Woodgrove, and Centreville among others. While they do return front of the order names like Beau Souders, Zach Hansen, and Alex Rose (Shepherd), they will need to figure out a way to replace Concord District and Region D star, Noah Toole (Radford). Toole will be missed in many facets of the game, but Oakton does have some depth returning positionally and on the mound. The Cougars have a small group of upperclassmen that should provide some two way help. Hansen, Souders, Cooper Bradshaw, and Gordon Cozad are just a few of those names. Sean Wagner should also lend a helping hand to the pitching staff. The district and region are already tough to navigate, but with not much turnover at places like Madison, Chantilly, and Centreville it will be a tough road for the Cougars this spring. Fortunately, they have enough returning pieces to be a part of that conversation.

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South Lakes Seahawks  

2024 Record: 20-8 *Class 6 State Runner-Up*

What a run by the Seahawks in 2024. After two lopsided losses early in May, the Seahawks went on a run, winning six of seven before losing to McLean in the state championship game. During that span they outscored opponents 44-16 and had a four run bottom of the seventh versus Western Branch to walk them off in the state semis. What is in store for 2025? The pitching staff may have the most production returning this season. Noah Tyler and Campbell Short threw some big innings last year for South Lakes and they should be back this season. The offensive lineup has a lot of turnover. Returning is CJ Kemmerer (Ferrum), Kameron Johnson (Eastern Mennonite), and Blake DeHoust. While they did lose a lot of the lineup, Kemmerer was the starting shortstop and DeHoust handled the catching duties, two huge spots to have returning talent. Probably the biggest question is, how will they score runs in 2024? If they can find one or two more arms to piggy back outings like they did last year and some offensive production to fill some voids they could make another run this season.

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Wakefield Warriors  

2024 Record: 7-14

Coming off of a 7-14 season, the Warriors have plenty returning, but also have some big innings to replace on the mound with the loss of Aiden Smith and Riley Sagana. Ben Crowe, Lucas Mejia, Cort Bringham, and Adam Barrington (Stevens Institute of Tech) are some names that contributed time on the mound last year that could be part of the equation this year. Joining Barrington and Bringham in the lineup should be the likes of Mason Bull (Lynchburg), Beau Branch (UVA-Wise), Joseph Todd (Richard Bland), and Matthew Hilscher. Wakefield will need to provide a frontline arm if they want to make a run at the playoffs, fortunately they have some returning offense to help the staff along.

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Washington-Liberty Generals  

2024 Record: 7-15

There were some struggles in 2024 for the Generals but they look to turn things around this spring. Jack Keane (Bucknell) returns this spring healthy and looking to be an important piece on the mound as well as offensively for the Generals. Kailen Hackmann (UMBC) is another arm that looks to help Keane with innings on the mound. Alex Frymoyer, Henry Gerber, Sam Jackman, and Hank Thomson are some familiar faces that return to the lineup. Sophomore Robert Kilpatrick has a chance to step into a bigger role as a two way impact this spring. They have some arm depth on this roster but will need to give them some run support to be successful this spring.

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Westfield Bulldogs  

2024 Record: 6-15

It wasn’t your typical season from the Bulldogs as they went 6-15 in 2024. They return some key pieces that are a year older and looking to flip the script this spring. Kase Cochran (Lynchburg), Braden Knapp (Paul D Camp), Jonah Meyer (Washington & Jefferson) Cal Oakley (Seton Hill), AJ Pritchard (Mary Washington), Carson Poch, and Blake Sanders (Mary Washington) are seniors that have experience that they will lean on for leadership. Alex Raymond and Tucker Whitacre are a couple of juniors that can be important contributors for the Bulldogs. They have a strong group of players that have experience but they will need an arm to step up in a frontline role to win big games throughout the spring.

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Yorktown Patriots  

2024 Record: 16-6

The Patriots had a strong regular season but ultimately saw their season come to an end by an upset in the region quarterfinals to Centreville. They will need to replace the contributions from Isaac Hobbs and Jack Rucker. Aidan McCracken, JD Rizzo, Jack Rubin, Owen Woodard are some familiar faces that return to the lineup this spring. Cameron Gonzalez and Grayson McCarthy are two arms that could see expanded roles with the loses to their rotation. There is some offensive depth here but they will need a frontline arm to be able to compete in the region.