“In the bigger moments, sometimes you can’t control yourself,” Upchurch said, chuckling. “I don’t ever intend to go out there and start screaming — that’s not who I am. But sometimes you’ve got to let it out.”

“You could put Mike Trout up there against him, and he would be the same guy,” senior right-hander Owen Basso said. “His confidence is through the roof.”

Last year, teammates called Upchurch “puppy dog.” It wasn’t a slight but a promise of growth — and one the Maryland commit and his team capitalized on after finishing with a 16-15 record. This year’s spring break trip, in which the team played 12 games in 10 days, certainly helped them grow.

“We’re eating in these random diners, learning Southern hospitality … then going out and playing in these high-intensity environments,” senior right-hander Elliott Eaton said. “We learned to grit it out. When it’s hot and you’re playing teams that do nothing but play baseball, you’ve got to find ways to win.”

For years, pitching has been the hallmark of the program. This season, led by Upchurch, Basso and Eaton, it’s among the best in the area, allowing an average of three runs per game. The Bulldogs hope that trio, backed by improved hitting and a talented bullpen, leads them to a D.C. championship and an Interstate Athletic Conference title.

On the eve of Penn Relays, which brings international and domestic teams to Philadelphia, Potomac School junior Ty’Heak Buie needed a new pair of shoes.

After splitting his spikes earlier in the week, Buie borrowed a neon-green pair from a pole vaulter teammate to compete in Saturday’s triple jump, where he set a personal record (48 feet 9.75 inches) and finished second, which came with a gold watch as the event’s top American.

“To win, to be the best athlete at Penn Relays in a certain event and get the gold watch is a memorable experience,” Coach Jeff Foy said. “We were really excited [for him]. Not everybody gets to take one home.”

The gold watch was anything but guaranteed.

Of Buie’s six attempts — three preliminary and three final — he didn’t complete two of them and went into the final try in fourth place. Falling into fourth gave him the energy to nail his sixth and final jump.

“My first few jumps were okay,” he said. “Then I started decreasing, getting worse with my jumps, so then I had to lock in for my last jump.”

It has been an impressive season for Buie, who credits his coaches for his success; in late March, he set a personal record in the 200 meters (22.14 seconds). A couple of days later, he set a PR in the long jump (22-3.75) before getting another PR in the 400 (49.67) two weeks later.

“If it wasn’t for my coaches,” Buie said, “I would not be setting PRs.”

Two other local teams stood out over the weekend.

Bullis finished second (45.59) in the 4×100 championship of America and third in the 4×400 (3:36.25), the fourth-fastest time in U.S. girls’ high school history. Bullis freshman Quincy Wilson ran a 45.06 in the 4×400 relay preliminary race, a boys’ meet record.

The Archbishop Carroll girls’ 4×100 relay team won its national race in 47.52.

Michael Rhodes was an assistant coach for Madison’s football and boys’ lacrosse teams, and he was a big proponent of athletes playing both sports.

Before he died in December, he saw the success of the crossover stars. Last year’s Virginia Class 6 championship lacrosse team had a handful of football players, including John Hurley, the starting safety who now plays football at Virginia and became a lockdown midfielder.

These football players, who were state finalists in the fall, bring a different level of toughness to the lacrosse field. At a practice, Eric Anderson, a defensive end who has become a midfielder, jumps in front of players shooting to let the ball bounce off his back to prevent them from scoring. Michael Delgado, a cornerback and midfielder, brings strong hand-eye coordination that helps him move quickly and push the pace in transition.

“Those guys are filling a huge role,” Coach Aaron Solomon said of the 10 football-turned-lacrosse players on his roster. “They’re used to playing high-level football, which is the most intense situation you can be in — playing on a state runner-up team two years in a row. Coming over just bringing that leadership and intensity helps raise the bar for our kids.”

Madison (12-2), which is looking for its third title in the past four seasons, beat Battlefield, 9-4, on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s championship game.

St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes junior Jacob Foti earned his first win of 2023 at the Mid-Atlantic Junior PGA Meadowbrook Open this past weekend in Richmond. Foti was the individual stroke play champion for the boys’ 16-to-18 age group; he finished the two-day tournament at even-par 107.

Foti’s win comes just a few days after he led the Saints with a 7-over 79 at the Interstate Athletic Conference championship at Worthington Manor in Urbana. He finished tied for eighth place with Charlie Maner of Bullis. The Saints posted a 100-stroke improvement from the previous year’s last-place team score of 575 on the same course.