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.
An up-and-down regular season ended on a high note with three straight victories during a key stretch for the Yorktown Patriots in softball.
In addition, the girls high-school team (10-10) finished 4-0 against Arlington rivals, defeating the Wakefield Warriors and Washington-Liberty Generals twice each. That also was the case last spring.
The girls softball program at Yorktown High School turned 50 years old this spring, and there was a pregame event May 2 to celebrate the anniversary.
Some 30 alumni from past teams were on the field introduced prior to Yorktown’s Liberty District home game against the Marshall Statesmen.
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.
A couple of Arlington residents are significant contributors on the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Colonials softball team that is enjoying a winning season.
The girls high-school squad finished the regular season with a 9-5 record.
In a seesaw girls softball game, the Yorktown Patriots eventually pulled away and defeated the host Washington-Liberty Generals in an all-Arlington neighborhood high-school clash.
Yorktown won the Liberty District contest, 20-9, after trailing by scores of 3-0, 5-2 and 9-6.
With just nine potential games remaining on its schedule, the undefeated Bishop O’Connell Knights (11-0) have no room for error in order to continue the squad’s long streak of winning 20 softball games in one season.
The girls high-school team has won 20 or more times for 30 straight spring campaigns.
The 12-under Arlington Sage girls travel softball team won the recent Crushers Smackdown tournament in Nokesville with a 5-1 record over two days.
The Sage defeated the Vienna Smash, 14-1, in the championship game of the 12B bracket.
The bats were alive and the run-scoring plentiful for the Yorktown Patriots in most of their last seven girls softball games.
Yorktown (6-7) finished 4-3 in those high-school contests, scoring double-digit runs in four of the outings and plating 58 overall.
The Bishop O’Connell Knights and Yorktown Patriots won key league games in girls softball action miles apart on April Fools’ Day — and by the same close scores.
O’Connell (8-0, 5-0) topped the host St. Mary’s Ryken Knights, 3-1, in southern Maryland in a clash between top longtime rival high-school teams in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
With with a trio of convincing victories and a tight one-run win, the Bishop O’Connell Knights (7-0) extended their four-season girls softball winning streak to 61 games.
The single-run triumph was by an 8-7 score over the host St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers for the multi-time defending Division I state and Washington Catholic Athletic Conference private-school Knights.
