Bishop Ireton Believes in Itself

Bishop Ireton senior pitcher-first baseman Dan Nicoll recalls the collective unease last season when his Cardinals were about to face Paul VI or St. John's, nationally ranked teams that loomed atop the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

"We'd go in thinking, 'Let's not get embarrassed; let's not get run out of here,' " Nicoll said this week.

A lot has changed for the No. 6 Cardinals. Not only did they reach the WCAC final last year as a fifth seed -- bumping off Paul VI in the semifinals -- they won their first seven games this season, including victories over Paul VI and St. John's.

Ireton, which plays at defending league champion DeMatha at 1 p.m. tomorrow, returned about 70 percent of its innings pitched from last season and five regulars, but lost its No. 3 through No. 5 hitters. Nicoll (Hampden-Sydney) and senior John Robertson each entered the week having not allowed an earned run in about 15 innings pitched apiece.

"No question, we're definitely ahead of where we were last year at this point," said Mike Gallagher, the Cardinals' second-year coach. "The one thing the players have is a huge sense of confidence right now. I think early on last year it was: 'You're playing Paul VI today. You're playing St. John's today. You're playing DeMatha today.' Great programs with a lot of history. We're now just playing the game as opposed to playing the jersey."

Six of the Cardinals' eight games through Wednesday had been decided by one or two runs, including an 8-7 loss to Gonzaga. Senior center fielder C.K. Kraft and switch-hitting senior shortstop Frankie Zare are key holdovers from the WCAC runner-up team.

But those lingering feelings of inadequacy have long since abated.

"We feel like we're just as good as everyone else," said Nicoll, who attended Westfield as a freshman. "We feel like we can win every game we go into."

Staying Home for Break

Twelve of the 30 teams in the Virginia AAA Northern Region will play in the McLean-Great Falls Babe Ruth Invitational spring break tournament beginning tomorrow at McLean and Langley high schools. It is the first year for the event.

McLean Coach John Thomas said that more teams were looking to stay home this spring break to avoid raising funds for a trip in a tough economy.

"It's just not a fun time to be trying to get money out of the community, even at McLean, even at Langley," Thomas said in reference to those schools' upscale demographics. "There's kind of a little bit of safeguarding against overspending."

The tournament field includes defending region runner-up Chantilly, Liberty District contenders McLean and Langley, two-time defending National District champion Yorktown and Oakton and Robinson, traditionally strong programs out of the Concorde District.

Pitching in at Osbourn Park

Osbourn Park is off to a 4-0 start thanks to one established pitcher, senior left-hander Matt Wainman, and one emerging hurler, senior left-hander Zach Bargeron.

Bargeron, who threw only eight innings last season on an 18-5 team, was impressive enough during the summer to earn a scholarship to West Virginia.

Bargeron struck out 20 batters in nine innings in recent wins over Stonewall Jackson and Culpeper.