The Bishop O’Connell Knights girls softball team has had dozens of talented pitchers in its storied past. Yet none achieved what right-hander Annie Van Dyck accomplished during a recent extra-inning game.
In that 11-inning high-school contest against host St. Paul VI Catholic, the junior struck out 28 batters in 10 1/3 innings of work in a 4-3 walkoff loss.
The 28 Ks are a single-game team record and thought to also be a single-game high for a state private school and member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC).
“She definitely was bringing it, and was tough to hit,” O’Connell coach Tony Uccellini told ARLnow.
In that road loss against Paul VI, Van Dyck threw 186 pitches. She allowed two earned runs, six hits and walked six.
Of the 31 outs she recorded on the mound, 28 were strikeouts. Helped by a solo homer, a couple of walks and an error, Paul VI scored two runs in the bottom of the 11th to win after O’Connell had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the frame.
The national record for the most strikeouts in a single girls’ high school softball game is 61. That mark was set by Alicia Hollowell of Fairfield High in California during a 30-inning game in 2001.
The most single-game Ks recorded by a public-school pitcher, according to the Virginia High School League’s record book, was 32 by Powhatan’s Sarah Davis during a 2006 extra-inning contest. The next highest is 25 by three different pitchers.
The Major League Baseball record for strikeouts in a single outing was set by Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators in September 1962. Cheney struck out 21 Baltimore Orioles in a 16-inning contest to earn the complete-game 2-1 victory.
Over the decades, many O’Connell pitchers have amassed lofty double-digit strikeout numbers in one game, but not as many as Van Dyck.
During the 2016 WCAC tournament championship, O’Connell’s Kathryn Sandercock hurled a complete game in a 19-inning contest that took two days to complete. She struck out 17 with one walk, threw 221 pitches and retired the final 26 batters she faced in order.
O’Connell, the defending Division I state private-school champion, entered this week with a 3-2 overall record and 1-1 mark in the WCAC thanks to a 10-0 victory over Good Counsel.
In its opening contest this season, O’Connell’s 75-game winning streak that spanned four seasons ended with 1-0 road loss to Division III state private-school opponent Brunswick Academy, currently undefeated at 8-0.
In that 28-strikeout loss to Paul VI, O’Connell had 10 hits, with Lucy Jorjani (triple) and Gigi Payne (two doubles) having three each. Also, Marie Gagliano and Callie Lissenden each doubled.
In the win over Good Counsel, Van Dyck, also a member of O’Connell’s girls ice hockey team during the winter, pitched a six-inning no-hitter. She fanned 10, walked two and threw 69 pitches in the game shortened because of the 10-run “slaughter rule.”
Gagliano smacked a grand-slam homer and had two hits and five RBI. Payne and Lissenden (double) had two hits each.
Another big highlight so far this season for O’Connell was a 1-0 non-conference road victory over the perennial public-school power Madison Warhawks in Vienna. Madison has won multiple state championships.
The Knights had just one hit but scored its run in the top of the seventh when starting pitcher Ella Fletcher singled and took second on a sacrifice bunt by Gagliano, but then the run scored on an error. In the bottom of the seventh, Fletcher allowed a leadoff single, then retired the next three hitters to end the game.
Fletcher tossed a complete game. She allowed five hits, walked one, struck out seven and threw 103 pitches.
“Both Ella and Annie are aces for us on the mound,” Uccellini said. “Both have pitched well enough for us to have won all of our games.”
The contest with Madison was the resumption of what once was an annual — and highly popular — rivalry between the multi-time state public and private-school champions.
On a down note for O’Connell this season, the team will be without injured starting shortstop and top hitter M.J. Melvin.
As a sophomore last season, Melvin batted .596 with 20 RBI. She scored 41 runs, had three home runs, six triples and seven doubles among her 34 hits. Melvin was chosen first-team Division I all-state.
“We have to replace six batters in our lineup this season, so we need more time to gel and find out who fits where,” Uccellini said. “Our pitching and defense have been solid, and we expect to compete with every team we play.”
