Mark the calendar.
For fans of girls high-school softball in Northern Virginia, a unique game is scheduled for Monday night, April 15, when two defending state champions of the highest enrollment classifications will meet – one a public-school squad and the other private.
At 6:30 p.m., the McLean Highlanders will host the Bishop O’Connell Knights. McLean is the defending Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state champion. O’Connell won last spring’s Division I private-school state title with an undefeated 21-0 record. McLean was 21-6 a year ago,
Both squads return key players from last season and are expected to be state contenders again this spring.
Left-hander Hailey Simpson is scheduled to be McLean’s starting and top pitcher again this season. Madeline Staats, Riley Staats, E.K. Templer, Chelsea Engle, Emory Hadden, Abigail Hart, Elise Walker and Genevieve Fagan are top returners for McLean.
Sofia Anderson and Sophia Taliaferro are two key returning starters for O’Connell along with Bri Lencz, Ari Clark, Zoe Wanek, Abby Bond and Emma Pryanowski. Lencz is expected to be the top pitcher. She will play in college at George Mason University.
The teams have met in a regular-season non-league game for years. They did not play last season because of scheduling issues, when rain or other matters caused multiple postponements. Eventually the game was cancelled.
The rivalry, which began in 2009, is popular because it pits the perennial powers. The contest has always been played on a Saturday afternoon on the McLean field. So a night game is a change this season.
“We really wanted to play the game last season and we look forward to it every year,” O’Connell coach Suzy Willemssen said. “It’s a game so many look forward to.”
McLean coach Maurice Tawil agreed.
“It’s always a great game. Maybe next year,” he said a year ago.
Next year is now, so mark the calenders.
Dating back to 2009, the teams have met 12 times and the games have often been close, with four decided by one run. O’Connell has won seven times and McLean five. The Knights won 5-2 during the 2022 season.
The teams also did not play in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic. It was suggested by one local girls high-school softball fan that O’Connell and McLean make up last season’s game by playing twice this season.
O’Connell opens its season March 15 against Good Counsel. McLean opens March 12 at South Lakes.
O'Connell is expected to be a contender again this spring season to win a 12th straight state championship and continue atop the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, a league the Knights dominated last season. O’Connell also will play Osbourn Park and Northern, two other often strong public-school opponents.
"We have a lot of players back. It will be fun to see how it all unfolds," O'Connell coach Suzy Willemssen said. "The WCAC has raised the bar with the level of play because the teams have gotten better. The gap is narrowing."
