Baseball team smiling

The Battlefield High School baseball team won its first Virginia High School League Class 6 Championship with a 6-3 victory over Independence High School.  

The win marks the second consecutive year that a Prince William County Public Schools team has claimed the state title, with Gainesville High School winning last year over the Bobcats.  

Battlefield High head coach Jay Burkhart noted the resilience of his team following a rocky start to the season, and its ability to bounce back from last year’s tough championship loss.  

“We lost some games early on and had to regroup,” Burkhart said. “I think that helped us because you never want to be clicking too soon, and we caught fire at the end of the season. I’m just so proud of these guys.” 

Strong performances on the mound from junior Alex Kamprowski and sophomore Josh Gunning kept Independence High’s high-powered offense in check, limiting a team that averages over 10 runs per game to just three. 

Heading into the seventh and final inning, Battlefield held a 2-1 lead and was looking for insurance runs to pad the lead.  

With the bases loaded, junior Luke Raflo delivered a grand slam over the right-field wall to put the Bobcats up 6-1 and well on their way to a state championship.  

“I didn’t know I had it immediately,” Raflo said. “I’ve hit that ball a lot and it just hasn’t gone out, but today it did.” 

Battlefield surrendered two runs in the bottom of the inning but settled down to get the final out and earn the program’s first state title.  

Junior Teagan Leach said it meant a lot to the team to get this win not only for themselves, but for their coach. 

“I’m speechless. Coach (Burkhart) has been working at this for 16 years and never got a state title,” Leach said. “We got it done for him.”