Multiple blowout victories have made the start to the 2026 high-school baseball season uniquely significant for the Bishop O’Connell Knights this spring.
The private-school squad, led by a number of players who have committed to play the sport at Division I colleges, hasn’t opened a season with so many lopsided wins in many years.
Through 11 games, O’Connell will end the week with a 10-1 overall record and will be 5-0 in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
“To start 10-1 with a good chance to be 11-0, you are definitely happy with that,” O’Connell coach Chris Berset told ARLnow. “We have a great mix of talented guys, with some very good seniors and hungry juniors, with sophomores and freshmen contributing as well. This team has a lot of potential.”
The start is O’Connell’s best since the 2001 season, when the Knights were 14-1 at one point, finished the regular season 24-3 and overall with a 27-4 mark.
“Our schedule will get tougher as the season goes on, and will be a fun challenge for the players,” Berset said.
In order, the Knights’ first five wins were over St. John Paul the Great by an 8-0 no-hit shutout in their season opener, 15-4 over St. Mary’s Ryken, 17-1 over St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes and dual 21-1 victories over Episcopal and The Heights.
Conference victories have been over Ryken, The Heights, Good Counsel, DeMatha and Bishop Ireton by a 23-0 score. The Knights routed The Heights, 21-0.
In a big non-conference victory, O’Connell defeated defending Division II private-school state champion Highland by a 5-4 score in a walkoff win.
Many of O’Connell’s games have been shortened because of “slaughter rules.” O’Connell has outscored opponents 145-29 and has shut out two opponents.
The Knights’ one loss was to St. Anne’s Belfield of Charlottesville by a 5-4 score. Belfield typically is one of the top private-school teams in Virginia, and at one point was ranked No. 1 in the state by MaxPreps, when O’Connell was ranked fourth.
The Knights have won with strong pitching, tight defense and productive hitting, amassing 125 hits that include 40 doubles, 13 home runs and six triples.
Through 11 games, the Knights have made few defensive errors. The pitching staff has combined for 120 strikeouts in 66 innings, with senior right-hander Shota Fogus (2-1) leading the way with 33 Ks in 16 innings and junior Robert Kilpatrick (3-0). Senior Drew Markey (1-0) with 14 strikeouts in as many innings is another top pitcher. He will play at Presbyterian College.
The pitchers have allowed 54 hits, and combined that season-opening no-hitter with a one-hitter against Episcopal.
Other top pitchers have been Cam Bates (1-0) and Kayden Ragsdale (2-0).
Fogus, the Knights’ hardest thrower with a fastball in the mid 90 mph range, will play in college at the University of Richmond.
Catching those pitchers is senior Jack Woda, a top hitter for O’Connell and a first-team Division I all-state player last season. He will play at East Carolina University.
Woda told ARLnow that the team’s motto is to be like a Greyhound and always look forward.
“The season has been a ton of fun,” he said. “We are really deep with a lot of talent and structure. Everyone is accepting their roles, being accountable and pulling for each other.”
Woda was batting .529 with 18 RBI, seven doubles and three home runs through 11 games.
Senior Charlie Woolfley, who will play in college at Rochester Institute of Technology, is hitting .391 with five doubles. Junior Walker McElwain is batting .471, with 16 RBI to go with six doubles and a homer.
Batting .607, with a team best 24 runs scored and 12 stolen bases, is senior Bryant James. He will play at the University of Virginia. James has 12 RBI and three home runs.
Also hitting about .500 is senior Chaz Walker at .545. He has homered four times with four doubles, and has 20 RBI.
Junior Jack Weber is hitting .429 with a triple, and junior Lucas Grubb is batting .444 with seven doubles. Ryan Fontenot and Nik Gambhir are each hitting .333, Kian Kaboli has a .296 average with three doubles and Bates is .286 with 10 RBI.
Other contributors at the plate have been Owen Spera, Nick Ferrara and Daggu Rana.
O’Connell players have stolen 60 bases in the season to date.
In the season-opening win, Fogus and Kilpatrick each pitched three innings, and Ragsdale pitched one, to combine for the no-hitter and 14 strikeouts. Fogus had the most Ks with seven.
In a recent conference win over Good Counsel, the Knights rallied to win by scoring six runs in the seventh inning.
“We can score and we find ways to win,” Woda said. “The schedule gets harder, and this is the part we are looking forward to.”
O’Connell will continue its busy schedule with multiple games scheduled in coming days, including contests at the H.I.T. Spring Break Tournament in Charleston, S.C.
