Tigers Hope to Measure Up

Wilson Dominates the DCIAA, but Stiffer Challenges Beckon From Elsewhere

Faced with playing two league tournament games this week leading up to tomorrow's inaugural Congressional Bank D.C. Baseball Classic, Wilson Coach Eddie Saah needed little time to figure out his pitching rotation. No. 1 pitcher David Perez would not throw in either the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association quarterfinal or semifinal. Nor will he start tomorrow against McKinley, another public school, in the Classic semifinals.

After all, the Tigers have won 208 of their past 209 games against league opponents. A 16th consecutive DCIAA title seems a foregone conclusion, though a triumph in tomorrow's tournament might carry more weight.

So Perez is slated to pitch tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Classic championship game, should Wilson advance, against the winner of the other semifinal between top-ranked St. Albans and Maret.

"The D.C. title, if we don't win that, it would be an absolute failure," said senior shortstop Andrew Whitener, one of Wilson's top players. "We really judge our season based on the success against comparable private schools we play."

Wilson's dominance of public schools is staggering. Its cleanup hitter wasn't even born the last time his team failed to win a D.C. public school championship. The last time the Tigers lost to a league opponent -- 5-4 to Dunbar on April 27, 1999 -- their current players were in their early years of elementary school, some already looking forward to playing for Wilson. The interim director of athletics for D.C. public schools, Pat Briscoe, likened Wilson's success to that of Tiger Woods.

"Sometimes one team will dominate and you hope other teams will see that as the mark they're striving for and they're competitive and get an opportunity to win," Briscoe said. "Sometimes that happens."

While other DCIAA coaches struggle to teach first-time players the basics of the game, many of Wilson's players took up the game as youths and played Little League.

"It would definitely be the hardest week of practice if we ever lost one of those games," said senior outfielder Luke Koczela, who like many of his teammates played in the Northwest Washington Little League and remembers reading about that loss to Dunbar in a newspaper.

Even Wilson's coach is guilty of breaking a cardinal rule in sports: Never look past one opponent toward a future game.

"We're looking forward to the game against St. Albans," Saah said. "Hopefully they throw [All-Met pitcher Danny] Hultzen and that's the way we're going to end our season."

St. Albans does not plan to oblige Saah and the Tigers. Bulldogs Coach Jason Larocque said that Hultzen is scheduled to start tomorrow's semifinal against Maret, with Francis Brooke the likely starter if St. Albans plays Wilson. Brooke pitched a five-hitter in a 6-0 victory against the Tigers last month.

The Tigers have beaten DCIAA opponents by a combined 183-14 this season. A 13-3 victory over Anacostia last night in the DCIAA semifinals was Wilson's closest league game. Thus, the Tigers can save their best pitcher for their toughest opponents.