In the Midst of History
Broad Run Softball Players Focus on Next Game, Not Their Legacy

By Matthew Stanmyre
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A few minutes after the final bell sounded at Broad Run High last Friday, the players from the school's nationally ranked softball team emerged from the building on a brilliant afternoon, walking purposefully toward the softball field.

Squinting under the cloudless sky, they carried equipment bags slung over their shoulders, decked in mesh shorts and T-shirts. Once inside their dugout, they quickly slipped on cleats, hung bags on the chain-link fence and walked out to the diamond, whirling their arms in circles, dipping down and grabbing their shins. Like most days, the Broad Run coaching staff was taking its time inside the Ashburn school.

"Where is Kaitlyn?" two-time All-Met pitcher Caitlyn Delahaba asked, referring to the Spartans' starting right fielder, Kaitlyn Tiplady.

"Camping," another player replied.

"All right," Delahaba said, scanning the diamond. "I guess we're not missing anybody. Let's start."

It was just another day for Broad Run, which is in the midst of a three-year stretch in which it has become one of the most dominant high school softball teams ever in the Washington area. While some of their classmates filtered into their cars in the adjacent parking lot, discussing plans for the holiday weekend ahead, the players took off in a jog around the softball facility before stopping in the outfield to stretch. In succinct rhythm, they tugged at their arms, legs and back, a routine they have followed so closely it has become second nature.

The previous night, the top-ranked Spartans won their third straight Virginia AA Dulles District tournament title, stretching their winning streak to 52 games. Veteran coach Ed Steele and assistant Dave Morris, who joined the team more than 15 minutes after practice started, gave the players the weekend off because they won't have a game until today, when they host Fluvanna at 7 p.m. in a Region II semifinal game.

But like the players normally do when given a day off, they still congregated on their own over the weekend to condition, work on fielding and smack hundreds of balls in a batting cage. Whether in season or out, Broad Run's players spend long days and nights dedicated to getting better, a shared work ethic that has built this team into a national name.

Over the past 15 years, as the population boomed in Loudoun County, it has developed into the most talent-rich area for softball in the region. Since 1997, 10 Loudoun teams have played for state championships; during the past eight years, three schools in the county have won a combined five state titles.

Perhaps no team, though, has been as dominant as Broad Run, which has compiled a 78-1 record since the start of the 2006 season. After going 29-0 last season on their way to winning the state title, the Spartans have shut out 22 of 23 opponents this year, turning historically balanced rivalries against Park View, Loudoun County and Stone Bridge into one-sided contests.

"This is something that hopefully all these kids understand how special it is," said Huntingtown Coach Mike Johnson, who has coached for 21 years in Maryland and won seven state titles. "They're not only making history, they're setting standards that are going to be out there for a long time for a lot of kids to look up to and strive for. They have to be one of the top three or four teams I've ever seen."

The last team before Broad Run to complete an undefeated season in The Post's coverage area was Thomas Stone, which finished 22-0 in 2000. This year, Broad Run is aiming to become only the second Virginia team since the Virginia High School League began using a softball tournament format in 1978 to compile consecutive undefeated seasons; Madison, in 1988 and '89, is the only team to finish unbeaten two seasons in a row.

"We don't ever think about losing," Broad Run third baseman Reagan Doiron said. "It's not even in our head."

On Friday, with temperatures creeping into the mid-80s, the Spartans burst through conditioning drills led by Delahaba, who in three seasons in the pitcher's circle has compiled a 75-1 record. A boom box behind home plate crackled the latest pop songs as the players sweated through plyometric drills along the left field line. They were silent, their faces red with fatigue. The Spartans rose last week to No. 2 in USA Today's national high school softball poll, but the players are oblivious.

"You think about that game [tonight] that we have to play," Delahaba said. "If you slack off today, you might be regretting it. If you're going to lose, you want to know that you worked hard the whole time. And this is not the time to slack off."

Broad Run's players have been feeding off each other's intensity since they began playing together nearly eight years ago. Most have followed the recent trajectory of the burgeoning softball scene in Loudoun, joining travel teams and competing year-round. In the fall and summer, 12 of the team's 14 players spend that time traversing the country, playing against the finest softball talent.

This year's Broad Run team likely will produce one of the largest crops of NCAA Division I talent of any single team ever in the Washington area. Five players have committed to Division I programs, and three others are expected to play at that level.

"I've seen good teams -- really good teams -- but I've never seen anything like this," said Steele, who has coached softball at Broad Run for 17 years. "When you have a good team, there's always a weakness somewhere that you can try to exploit. But these guys do it all. There's just no weakness anywhere."

Delahaba has thrown 125 consecutive scoreless innings, a VHSL record. She exudes confidence, only bristling during the rare times when Steele has demanded she intentionally walk an opponent. "She doesn't want to give anyone anything," Steele said. "She believes she can get anyone out, and she's probably right."

Delahaba, who has signed with Villanova University, is one of four players who have started since they were freshman; second baseman Michelle Clohan (James Madison), shortstop Ashley Kramer (Longwood) and first baseman Karla Powell (Wisconsin) are the others. That is the core of a team that is being mentioned along with the Northeast High team that won four straight Maryland 2A championships from 1988 to 1991, and Johnson's Northern High teams that claimed three consecutive 3A titles from 1994 to 1996. Some say it rates with Surrattsville High in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Olympian Michelle Collins pitched for the Hornets.

"I would say they're in a group of maybe 10 of the greatest teams to ever play in the area," said O'Connell Coach Tommy Orndorff, who has coached in the area since 1972. "It's a program that's used to winning. It's not just this year -- they've been good for years."

Broad Run's players cannot avoid seeing the national rankings, or hearing comparisons to great teams of the past. They embrace the expectations and pressure. The winning streak has continued for so long now the players have stopped counting.

"It seems like it's not real," Broad Run junior catcher Haley Johnson said. "It's been so long, it's almost like a habit. We keep doing it over and over again. Hopefully we won't have a loss to bring us back into reality."

As practice wound down last Friday, Steele did not have to remind the Spartans to stay out of trouble over the long weekend, or to keep their focus. Sweaty and sore, they shuffled into their cars and off to their homes to rest up for the next day, when they would continue to work toward their growing legacy.

"To look back in 20 years and see what we've done is going to be amazing," Powell said. "It's a really special thing that we have now."