A season full of notable accomplishments for the Bishop O’Connell Knights culminated in winning the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) baseball tournament for the first time in 25 years.
The second seed won the tournament with a 5-1 record, clinching the crown by defeating the top seed St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers in the deciding contest of a three-game championship series played at the University of Maryland.
O’Connell (27-7) won that deciding game, 5-2, bouncing back to win two straight after losing the opener.
In the previous three-game semifinal series, the Knights defeated Good Counsel in two games, and blanked St. Mary’s Ryken, 5-0, in the opening play-in contest.
“We came in with the mindset it was not going to be just 14 innings of baseball in the series final,” O’Connell coach Chris Berset said. “When we lost that first game, we played a good game and could have won. So we told them it was OK and there was no reason to panic, and just stay tough.”
O’Connell senior catcher Jack Woda said it was a big goal to win that sought-after championship.
“Winning the WCAC is really special because it was an expectation,” Woda told ARLnow. “For four years we have wanted to do this. We stayed tough and positive to get this done.”
After winning the WCAC crown, O’Connell next finished 1-1 in the Division I private-school state tournament. The fourth-seed Knights hosted and defeated No. 3-seed St. Christopher’s of Richmond 4-3 in extra innings in walk-off fashion in the first round.
They then fell 5-0 to second-seed and eventual champion Paul VI in the semifinals at Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights to end their season.
O’Connell last reached the state semis in 2024. The last time they won the championship was in 1998 and the last time they placed second was in 2004.
The Knights’ 27 victories this season were their most in a campaign since 2001. The team also had winning streaks of 11 and six games this year, after opening the season by winning its first four games. Another accomplishment was being ranked as high as fourth in the Division I private-school state poll.
O’Connell had not done well in the postseason recently, including going 0-1 in both the conference and state playoffs a year ago. One of Berset’s goals when he took over as head coach last year was to change the team’s perceived mentality of not being tough enough to excel in postseason action.
O’Connell did so this season by winning the WCAC title with strong hitting and pitching throughout the five games. The Knights amassed 59 hits in the six games, including 30 in the three against Paul VI.
“Our bats were solid throughout,” Berset said. “We got a lot of big two-strike hits, and we celebrated that.”
While finishing with a 6-2 postseason record this season, O’Connell showed determination by rallying to win in four of those games.
“This team had high expectations for the playoffs, but just didn’t know how to win in the postseason,” Berset said. “The mission was to win this year.”
O’Connell was led by multiple players chosen all-conference in the WCAC. Senior shortstop Bryant James was selected as the Co-Player of the Year. He also was a first-team selection along with Woda, senior pitcher Shota Fogus, junior outfielder Chaz Walker and junior pitcher Robert Kilpatrick.
Chosen second team were junior first baseman Walker McElwain and sophomore utility player Kian Kaboli. Making honorable mention were senior pitcher Drew Markey, junior infield/pitcher Cam Bates and junior outfielder/pitcher Lucas Grubb.
Other top contributors were infielder/pitchers Nick Ferrara, a senior, and Daggu Rana, a junior; junior infielder/outfielder Ryan Fontenot; senior pitcher/outfielder Charlie Woolfrey; and freshman pitcher/catcher Kayden Ragsdale.
Fogus finished 2-0 in the postseason. He threw a complete game, four-hit shutout with nine strikeouts and a walk against Ryken.
In O’Connell’s state-tourney win over St. Christopher’s, Fogus got the win in a strong 5 2/3 innings in relief. He fanned nine, did not allow a run, gave up one hit and walked just one in throwing 99 pitches.
“I wasn’t feeling great after my first 15 pitches, but I got more energy. I was hitting my spots and I did not want to come out,” Fogus said.
O’Connell beat St. Christopher’s in the bottom of the ninth inning on Ferrara’s walk-off solo home run to left on an 0-2 pitch. The homer was the first of his varsity high-school career.
“I got a fastball and made a good swing,” Ferrara said.
Earlier in the game, Woda hit a solo homer and James an opposite-field line-drive two-run blast to right.
Woda finished the season with six homers and 37 RBI and James with eight homers, 30 RBI and a .539 batting average. McElwain hit .500 with three homers and 45 RBI. Walker hit .343 with five homers and 31 RBI.
Fontenot hit .300, Ragsdale .296, Kaboli .284, Rana .278 with two homers, Bates .259, Woolfrey .257, Ferrara .236 and Grubb .235.
Like Fogus, Markey also had a 2-0 postseason pitching record. Ragsdale had a win and Bates had a win and a save.
NOTE: When O’Connell last won the WCAC tournament in 2001, the Knights were 3-0 in the competition with three shutouts, by 9-0, 1-0 and 1-0 scores, nipping Gonzaga 1-0 in the final.
