Charlottesville, Va. — The Heritage High School baseball team had high hopes heading into their 2025 season.
Returning more than half of their starting lineup—as well as both of their Division I arms—the Pride were on a lot of teams’ radars heading into their spring campaign.
However, preseason injuries to senior Richmond-commit Aaron and junior George Mason-commit Mark Van Tuyle presented a major hurdle in the Pride’s plan.
When the elder Van Tuyle made his way back into the starting lineup for a March 29 matchup against 2025 VHSL Class 3 State champion Spotswood, the Pride were sitting at 1-4. By the time he made his much anticipated first start on the mound against district foe Loudoun Valley on April 24, the Pride had slid to 4-9.
Despite allowing just 1 hit over 6.1 innings of work in his first outing of the season, Aaron posted a no decision in the Pride’s 5-3 win over the Vikings.
After splitting the two-game set with rival Tuscarora, the Pride hosted Woodgrove on May 8 in a preview of the eventual state championship game, falling to the Wolverines, 7-5, pushing Heritage to 6-11.
That would be the Pride’s last loss of the season.
“We wanted to be playing our best baseball late in the season. We knew if we got healthy, changed our approach at the plate, threw strikes, and played great defense, we were going to give ourselves a chance,” Heritage head coach Nolan Potts said. “I’m not sure they bought in at the beginning of the year, but they bought it when it mattered most.”
A May 15 matchup with Dominion marked Aaron’s second win of the season and started what would turn into a 12-game winning streak for the Pride.
The younger Van Tuyle made his first start of the season on May 16, when Heritage travelled to Dominion. The junior allowed just two hits over 5.1 innings of work, striking out 10, as the Pride started their uphill climb to the top of the Dulles District.
Having claimed at least a share of the regular season district title—and behind a 4-hit shutout by Mark Van Tuyle—the Pride defeated Loudoun Valley 7-0 in a game that determined who would take the No. 1 seed and automatic region bid into the postseason. That win also pushed Heritage to .500 for the first time all season.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Mark,” older brother Aaron Van Tuyle said. “When facing adversity at the beginning of the year, and working to come back from that, he worked hard every single day. He was throwing, working on mechanics, working on his pitches, and as soon as he got back, he was able to dominate.”
After hanging on for a district semifinal win over Dominion, Heritage junior first baseman Aiden Delaney delivered a ninth inning walk-off double to beat rival Tuscarora, 6-5, in the Dulles District championship game.
Then in a region semifinal on June 3, Heritage freshman third baseman Davin Crain sacrifice bunted in the bottom of the seventh as junior pinch runner Cam McManus came around to score on a throwing error, allowing the Pride to escape rival Loudoun County, 1-0, and punch their first ever ticket to the state playoffs.
In an effort to avenge their regular season loss, Heritage travelled to Woodgrove on June 5 with the region title on the line. Aaron Van Tuyle pitched a gem—scattering 4 hits, allowing 0 earned runs, and striking out 12, while also hitting a 2-run home run—in a complete game win, 6-3, as the Pride claimed their first ever VHSL Region 4C title.
With the region title secured, the Pride got to host Region 4D runner up Sherando in a VHSL Class 4 State semifinal on June 10 in Leesburg.
Despite falling into a 2-0 hole early, the Van Tuyle brothers turned in a gritty combined effort—and the Pride got timely hits from Aaron as well as junior second baseman Cooper Miskelly—to escape the Warriors, 4-2.
Miskelly (who hit .632 with a 1.562 OPS during the Pride’s playoff run), Delaney (who hit .417 with 10 RBIs in the playoffs), and Aaron Van Tuyle (who hit .381 with a 1.185 OPS during the same stretch) provided the offensive spark the Pride needed during their playoff run.
“[Cooper]’s been our heart and soul. He had an awful start to the season—and he’d be the first to admit it—but if you look at our last 13 or 14 games, he’s hitting .600 with video game stats,” Potts said. “He meant everything to us. He embodies what we want a Heritage baseball player to play like.”
In their VHSL Class 4 State semifinal against Atlee, the Pride got crucial hits from Miskelly and Delaney and a masterful, complete-game shutout on the mound from Aaron Van Tuyle as Heritage knocked off the reigning VHSL Class 4 State champion Raiders, 3-0.
“We were definitely the underdogs, and we accepted that and used that as motivation,” Potts said. “We knew we had our guy going, and he delivered in a big way. Offensively, we were good enough to scratch a few runs across, and that’s all Aaron needed.”
Having missed the first 17 games of the season, Mark Van Tuyle got the start when the Pride travelled to Monticello High School to play the rubber match with the Woodgrove Wolverines with the VHSL Class 4 State title on the line.
After Van Tuyle issued a leadoff walk, Heritage junior catcher Michael DeMasi threw out Woodgrove sophomore catcher Bryan Miller trying to swipe second, before Van Tuyle struck out the next two Wolverines to fire up the Pride faithful heading into the bottom half of the first.
Aaron Van Tuyle led off the first with a walk before sophomore right fielder Luke Olszewski sacrificed him to second. Then, Miskelly was hit by pitch before sophomore designated hitter Erick Flores drew a walk to load the bases.
“Being in the leadoff spot, you want to make the pitcher work and see a lot of pitches, and I was able to do that in a few of my at-bats today,” Aaron Van Tuyle said. “Leading off, you want to set the tone and be a spark plug for the team, so I’ve just been trying to do that.”
Facing an 0-2 count with the bases loaded, Delaney shortened up his swing and knocked a ground ball through the right side as Van Tuyle and Miskelly came around to score.
“We’ve been telling them for weeks to shorten up, have a two-strike approach, and get the barrel to the baseball,” Potts said. “All the at-bats today were pretty good. They listened, they bought into the coaching, and they made the necessary adjustments.”
Senior shortstop Owen Brundage then laid down a well-executed safety squeeze, scoring Flores as the Pride took an early 3-0 lead.
Another leadoff walk to start the top of the second proved costly as Woodgrove senior outfielder Patrick Lyons homered on the first pitch he saw to cut the Heritage lead to 3-2. Van Tuyle settled down after that, striking out the next batter before inducing two infield pop outs to get out of the inning.
“I didn’t think about it and just moved onto the next pitch,” Van Tuyle said. “The run support really helped, so I was able to just focus on getting outs. It means a lot contributing, getting to play with the boys, and helping them win.”
With one out in the bottom half of the second, Mark Van Tuyle singled down the left field line, before watching his brother get hit by pitch and Olszewski draw a walk. Facing an 0-2 count of his own, Miskelly hustled out an infield single, plating his pitcher as the Pride re-extended their lead to 4-2.
On the first pitch of his at-bat, Flores singled through the left side, scoring both Aaron Van Tuyle and Olszewski as the Pride took a 6-2 lead.
With runners on first and second, Delaney crushed a double to the right field corner, scoring Miskelly as the Pride went up 7-2.
Brundage then singled on a line drive to center, driving in Flores and Delaney, putting the Pride up 9-2.
“We came out on all cylinders today: offensively, defensively, and Mark was obviously great on the mound,” Potts said. “To come out like we did—especially against a pitcher like Dane [Marsh] who was dominant all year—was a testament to our guys and their hard work.”
A 1-2-3 third for Mark Van Tuyle kept Heritage in the driver’s seat as Olszewski reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the third before scoring on a passed ball to give the Pride a 10-2 lead.
Van Tuyle—who retired the last 12 batters he faced—cruised through the fourth and the fifth, giving Heritage an opportunity to end the game early in the fifth inning.
“He worked his butt off to get back on the mound. Every time he got the ball, he was just dominant,” Potts said. “Having him and Aaron back competing just breathed some life into our team, because they knew if we just gave them a little run support, we’d be in every game.”
To start the bottom of the fifth, Aaron Van Tuyle drew a leadoff walk, but was put out on an Olszewski fielder’s choice. Miskelly then doubled, allowing Olszewski to advance to third with just one out. Flores then singled to drive in Olszewski, extending the Heritage lead to 11-2.
Then, Delaney reached on a fielder’s choice before Brundage grounded out with the bases loaded, setting the stage for Crain with two outs in the fifth.
“I was just trying to make contact, hit the ball up the middle, and do the job,” Crain said. “I just looked for a fastball and drove it back up the middle.”
The freshman delivered in a big way as he singled up the middle to drive in Flores as the Pride run-ruled the Wolverines, 12-2, to claim their program’s first VHSL Class 4 State title.
“6-11 didn’t look so good,” Potts said. “So to be here in Charlottesville on a Saturday and to win the state championship in just five innings, I can’t really put into words.”
From a 6-11 start to capping a 12-game winning streak with their first state championship, the Pride (6-2, 18-11) battled through adversity throughout the season, but used their love for each other to etch their names into history.
“This is one of the best teams I’ve ever played with. We have such a great team bond,” Miskelly said. “We had some ups and downs, but we battled through it. We found our motto ‘burn the ships’ in the middle of the season which just picked the team right back up. We got hot right when we needed to.”