The motto permeates every O’Connell batting practice: “Hit the blue.”
At the very back of the Knights’ batting cage hangs a blue mat. Hitting it requires solid technique to create a line drive with the right speed and angle.
“When we do hit that, it means we’re getting our top hand through,” said junior first baseman Katie Nutaitis. “We have kind of a game going on each day. You’ll say, ‘I hit five blues. How many did you hit?’ It’ll be a game with the players and [Knights coach] Tommy [Orndorff] gets into it, too.”
Nutaitis ‘hits the blue’ as much or more than any of her teammates. She’s the best hitter on the top-ranked Knights (20-1, 15-0 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference), who are firing on all cylinders and closing in on a third consecutive WCAC title and fourth Virginia Independent Schools state title.
Nutaitis sharpened her skills in the backyard with her grandfather, Oakton pitching coach Don Kildoo, whom she still consults during a bad stretch.
“Whenever she’s having a problem at the plate or feel like she isn’t doing her part, she’ll go talk to him. They’ll hit for a couple hours, even after a game if she’s not happy with the way she did,” said O’Connell’s dominating starting junior pitcher, Kelley Engman, who knows Nutaitis as well as anyone; the two have been playing together since the fourth grade and plotting their domination at the varsity level ever since.
“When we were that little, I think both of our dreams were to grow up together and keep playing ball, and go to high school and be the starting battery,” said Engman.
“We didn’t really know what to expect at first,” said Nutaitis of when she and Engman began at O’Connell. “We didn’t really like it because we didn’t know anybody but each other.”
But by the spring of freshman year they were assimilated, and last season they both played a crucial role in shaking off a 3-4 start to lead the Knights to 20 consecutive wins along with WCAC and VIS titles. During the season Nutaitis fought through the recovery from a torn labrum suffered earlier the previous fall, an injury that still lingers today.
“Sometimes I’m not as confident when I throw,” said Nutaitis, who said her arm is 90-95 percent healthy and the effects are limited by playing first base.
O’Connell’s hitting and defense have become much more important this year while Engman has fought through a lingering quadriceps injury.
“This year with the start we had and the way things have been going, it’s just been a lot easier for our team in general to bond and trust each other,” said Engman. “And we can always count on [Nutaitis] for RBIs or base hits when we need one.”
Dominance personified
» Nutaitis batting stats (through 20 games): .479 batting average, 34 hits, 27 RBI
» Engman pitching stats: 18-0, 173 strikeouts, 0.68 ERA
» With their 12-2, six-inning win over Paul VI on Tuesday, the Knights reached the 20-win plateau for the 14th straight year. The victory was also their 101st consecutive in WCAC regular-season play — a streak that goes back to a 1999 loss to Pallotti.
