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VHSL Class 6 Previews: Region D

Centreville Wildcats  

2025 Record: 13-11

The Wildcats finished 13-11 last season, losing six of their last seven games. While they stayed in games while staff ace Michael Gambone (App State) and Caleb Bang (Grove City) were on the mound, it was the offensive struggle that ultimately led to a majority of their losses. In those final seven games, the offense failed to score more than three runs in six of those games, scoring five in a six run loss to South Lakes. In addition to their offensive struggles last season, the Wildcats lost some of their best hitters. Ian Weber (Washington & Lee), Ben Wells (Washington & Jefferson), Mason Kees, Bryce Henneberg, and Jackson Rakes were all regulars in the lineup and have since graduated. Thomas Soules is one of the best hitters in NOVA and his return is pivotal, as well as the returning shortstop Caysen Chadha (Denison) and the ultra athletic John Poythress. Chadha and Poythress should contribute some important innings on the mound as well. A healthy Graham Rosenberg (Mary Washington) could be a big spark for this lineup, but they will need some young bats to step up. Speaking of some young players, names like Bryson Abbott, Ryan Pilon, Ben Weber, Patrick White, and Joe Salcedo are all players to watch as breakout candidates and could be fixtures in this program down the road. The arms will lead the way, but will the offense follow?

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Herndon Hornets  

2025 Record: 16-8-1

The Hornets have eight players coming back that are entering their third varsity season, giving them some experienced depth. Hayden Rita, Drew Patton (Lehigh), and Noah Lambrinides (Richmond) make a very strong three headed monster on the mound that bring back a wealth of experience and talent. Joining those three on the mound should be names like Chase Brown, Jackson Beasley, and the young arms of Chase Dinning, Brayden Shivers, and Ethan Juran. Handling the catching duties once again should be Noah Wantuck. The junior caught essentially every inning last year and his experience behind the plate will be huge for this team. David Castillo returns after hitting .341 last year. Charlie Morgan brings some power potentialy to the order. Joining those two in the lineup should be fellow seniors Noah Wickline and Alan Garten. A few younger names to watch should be guys like Max Tiboni, Jack Kolsky, and Landon Keen. All of those newer faces will need to carve out their place, but could play pivotal roles in the long run. How the infield shapes up will be a big question mark, while they are very solid and pretty intact from last year's team.

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Langley Saxon  

2025 Record: 12-12

There are some key losses from a .500 Saxon team, including Thomas Sharp, Colin Buckley (Marymount), and John Deringer. Those are three top half of the order hitters for Langley and Buckley threw some big innings for them in 2025. In addition to those seniors, Nick Newburn (Penn) and Vinne Rana (Brandeis) are also gone, leaving some big voids in the pitching staff. Some names that are back are guys like Luke Murphy, Trent O’Malley, and Lance Emery. All three of those players were important, every day pieces in 2025. O’Malley could be huge at the plate and on the mound for this 2026 Saxon squad, but what other arms will step up to throw big innings. That looks to be the biggest question that could determine their level of success in 2026.

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Madison Warhawks  

2025 Record: 24-4

Another 20+ win season for the Warhawks, finishing at 24-4. While typically this program just reloads every year, there is a lot of reloading to do if they want to get back to that 20 win mark in 2026. Losing Niko Papathanasiou (Ferrum), Nathan Tondreault (Salisbury), Kyle Tyrrell (Roanoke), Hector Orozco (Roanoke), Sean Wilson, Daniel Killoran (EMU), and Cael Yates were integral pieces in this program for multiple years. Papathanasiou and Tondreault led the team in hitting, while Tyrrell hit .321 on the season. Tondreault and Yates combined for 125+ innings on the mound, both carrying sub 1.75 ERA’s. The top returning hitter is also their top returning defender/infielder. Chase Dorsey (Maryland) hit .278 last season and defended at a .970 clip. Dorsey is the only returning qualifying hitter that hit north of .200, making the offense for Madison in 2026 an uphill battle. They do return a few arms from last year’s staff, including seniors Jimmy Bollini (Salisbury) and Luke Ayer. While they do not have a ton of returning production, it always seems to be a “next man up” mindset and they always find a way to put themselves at or near the front of the pack. Who will be those new faces that give them the push they need?

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McLean Highlanders  

2025 Record: 20-7

The Highlanders have seen an immense amount of turnover the last two seasons, with names Ethan Ball (Virginia Tech), Aidan Carey (GW), Brennan Core, Jack Dailey (UVA Wise), Christian Dray (Richmond), Alex Gonzalez (Cincinnati), JW Harrington, Gabriel Pegues (Lynchburg), Aydin Prell (Dickinson), and Yuta Shimo departing from the 2024-2025 grad classes. This will certainly be a new look team, especially on the mound, but there are a few familiar faces that should set a solid foundation. Charlie Erlanger (Chatham), Dan Ockerman (Georgetown), JW Riggins (Georgetown), Ryan Riggins, and Reid Turner (Shenandoah) are a few returners that are back for their senior season. A young name to know that we saw in short stints last year was Alex Inget. He is an arm to watch this year, but after Inget and those seniors there are some questions as to how this roster will fill up and how those new faces will contribute to this McLean program.

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Oakton Cougars  

2025 Record: 17-8

The Cougars had a solid season in 2025, with big wins over Madison, Centreville, and St. Albans. Tyler Melvin, Alex Rose (Shepherd), Beau Souders, and Zach Hansen were all part of their graduating class. Those seniors were big parts in the lineup and on the mound. Oakton does return some pivotal pieces like Cooper Bradshaw, Gordon Cozad, Will Donohue (York), Jack Greene (Muhlenburg), and Dawson Givens. Keep an eye on Griffin Murphy and Luke Phillips as two players that could see expanded roles. While their biggest roles in 2025 came in the offensive lineup, they may turn to some of those names to replace big innings provided from the 2025 class. Cooper Bradshaw is an arm that threw some innings last year, as well as Logan Thompson, but they will need more depth in this always tough Region 6D.

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South Lakes Seahawks  

2025 Record: 7-15

CJ Kemmerer (Ferrum), Kameron Johnson, James Butlin, and Campbell Short (Ferrum) are some key names that they lost from last season’s 7-15 South Lakes team. Noah Tyler (Salisbury) was their inning leader on the mound and he should be joined by Clayton Maclean on the staff. Maclean and Tyler combined for nearly 70 innings last spring. The Seahawks had two hitters that were north of .300. With both Kemmerer and Johnson graduating, this Seahawks team will need some big help at the plate and need to see a massive jump in offensive production coming off of a season that saw the team hit .225.

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Washington-Liberty Generals  

2025 Record: 13-9

The Generals finished 2025 with a 13-9 record. Jack Keane (Bucknell) was the straw that stirred the drink for last year’s team. Keane was the only qualifying hitter that hit over .300 (.377 BA) and he threw far and away the most innings on this team (44). His loss is monumental for this W-L team. Joining him in graduation was Alex Frymoyer (Bates), Kailen Hackmann (UMBC), Alex Bartl, Sam Jackman, and George Thompson. Hank Thomson (Rhode Island) may prove to be the biggest returning name. In 2025 Thomson was second on the team in innings pitched and was third on the team in batting average. Noah Hitzig will be another returner from the lineup, but outside of those two there are a lot of questions. 

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Westfield Bulldogs  

2025 Record: 10-15

Coming off of a 10-15 season, the Bulldogs will have some big names to replace. Kase Cochran (Lynchburg) was their only everyday regular hitter that recorded a .300+ batting average, with Cochran hitting .358 on the season. After him, Joey Wyatt hit .333 in a limited role, and then seniors Braden Knapp (Paul D. Camp), Blake Sanders (Mary Washington), and Jonah Meyer (Washington & Jefferson) were the only other hitters north of .250 batting average. There is a huge need for offensive contributors after they graduated nearly their entire lineup. In addition to the offensive losses they also lost arguably their top two arms in AJ Pritchard (Mary Washington) and Cal Oakley (Seton Hill). The one thing this team does have returning are a few experienced and talented arms. Tucker Whitacre (Lynchburg) and Alex Raymond (Marymount) are back for their senior seasons, but there is a big weight on their shoulders with the lack of experienced offensive production present on this roster. Who will be the new faces that step up at the plate to allow this pitching staff some room to breathe?

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Yorktown Patriots  

2025 Record: 13-9

The Patriots only lost two of their top hitters, with Owen Woodward and Jack Rubin (Fordham) moving on after graduating. The mound is where they lost the most from their 2025 team. Cameron Gonzalez, Max Troiano, and Grayson McCarthy were three of their top arms, but all of them were seniors last season. While they did lose some pitching production, their lineup stays fairly intact. Aidan McCracken (St. Mary’s-MD), JD Rizzo (USC-Beaufort), Colt Monticello, Cooper Lawson (CNU), Leo Holt (Penn State-Harrisburg), Anthony Rucker, and Jack Ingram all return this season. They stay pretty solid up the middle of the field, but will be looking for an instant impact guy on offense, as well as developing depth on the mound.