May 15 will not soon be forgotten for high-school baseball in Arlington — but for the wrong reasons.
All four squads suffered season-ending losses that Thursday in first-round tournament action. In a matter of a five-hour stretch, the county’s high-school baseball season was all over.
The spring high-school sports season for Arlington’s private-school Bishop O’Connell Knights is complete, while the county’s three public-school teams are competing in region-playoff action over the next week.
The Wakefield Warriors, Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots all have teams or athletes entered in individual and team region competition, with one team playing in a district-tournament championship game Friday, May 23.
Dual third-place team finishes were highlighted by a number of winning relays and individuals for the Bishop O’Connell Knights at the Virginia State Catholic School track-and-field high-school championship meets.
“The teams each scored more than 100 points and it was an exciting day for O’Connell,” Knights’ coach Jim Connor told ARLnow.
Bri Lencz created many positive memories on the George Mason University women’s softball field during four years of high school. And now, the Bishop O’Connell senior will become a member of that college team next year.
Lencz made the commitment several months ago to play Division I college softball for George Mason.
With top finishes in the spring season’s three biggest tournaments, the Bishop O’Connell Knights enjoyed their best golf campaign in years.
The high-school team finished second in the Washington-Catholic Athletic Conference tourney, fourth at the Washington Metro Boys Golf Championship, then tied for fourth at the season-ending co-ed Division I private-school state competition.
A number of former standout softball players on high school teams from Arlington continue having success participating in the women’s college sport this spring.
Washington-Liberty High graduate Bridget Bartz batted .353, hit two home runs and had 18 RBI for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The junior starting shortstop had 30 hits, including six doubles, and played in 32 games. Her two home runs came in the same contest.
When Bishop O’Connell and St. Mary’s Ryken meet in girls softball, the games are close and action is pressure-packed.
Nothing was different this spring, when the showdown of teams with the same “Knights” nickname met in the championship contest of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference high-school girls tournament at George Mason University.
The high-school regular-season sports schedules for Arlington’s teams are concluded, and now it’s on to the postseason for public-school teams.
The playoffs are underway with district-tournament competitions.
Led by speedy sprinters, winning relays and other top performers, the Bishop O’Connell Knights girls and boys teams had winning and runner-up performances at the annual Draper Invitational outdoor track-and-field meet.
The 30-team high-school event was held May 2-3 at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Alexandria.
The website Novahoops.com recently named a number of high-school basketball players from Arlington to its girls and boys all-Northern Virginia freshman and sophomore teams for the 2024-25 season.
On the girls sophomore team was Arlington’s Sabrina Anderson, a guard for the Potomac School private squad, who already has scored 1,000 career points. Bishop O’Connell’s Mia Morrill was chosen a reserve on the sophomore team.
For Dick Abood, coaching high-school lacrosse has become a habit with no firm end in sight. He’s been doing so for 38 years.
Turning 69 this month, the grandfather likes the work so much, he continues in his current position for a third year as an assistant junior-varsity boys coach at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington.
With two opening-round victories, the top seed and undefeated Bishop O’Connell Knights (16-0) have reached the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference girls softball tournament.
Three-time defending champion O’Connell won both of those high-school contests on its home field at Tuckahoe Park. The Knights blanked the Bishop Ireton Cardinals, 13-0, behind 14 hits in the quarterfinals, then downed the St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers, 8-0, in the semifinals.
