State championships are nothing new to western Prince William County.

This decade alone, Brentsville District has taken 14 team titles and a host of individual wins in sports like track, swimming and wrestling. Stonewall Jackson brought back wins in gymnastics and softball while Battlefield is just starting to get into the act as Beau Martino clinched back-to-back state titles in wrestling this year.

But it's not every day a local team starts a season ranked not only tops in the state but in the entire country.

Such is the case for the 10U Virginia Generals traveling baseball team. The Manassas-based team amassed a perfect 22-0 record in the fall en route to securing the Old Dominion Baseball League championship. Dominance like that pretty much came straight out of left field as those same boys at the 8U level were 2-8 after their first 10 games in the 2007 season.

"One of the things is, they are pushed to be aggressive. You will not see any of those Generals looking timid," said ODBL president Jay Shepard.

Before the national USSSA numbers came out in February, officials in the Generals organization knew they were in for something good. Tops in the country though came as a bit of a surprise and according to both Shepard and the 10U manager Richard Solomon, it has inspired the boys to work even harder.

"The kids work as hard as anybody. They're very focused, mature 10-year olds,"

said Solomon.

Grabbing national headlines reaps some nice rewards too. The sporting goods company Rawlings, particularly known in baseball for their mitts and batting gloves, decided to sponsor the entire organization this season.

According to Solomon, the Rawlings executives had to wonder, "Who is this team from Virginia that's knocking off all these California teams?"

That came in part as members of the Generals' staff convinced the company that while the 10U may be leading the way, the younger kids are learning the same methods that delivered the older boys victory after victory.

"It's not just that team even though they're out front right now. It's the whole program," said Shepard.

Statistics alone provide an insight into why the 10U team has been so successful. Last fall, the Generals' team batting average amounted to .528. Even players that did not start every day hit above .300.

Miguel Williams lead the way offensively by posting a .627 batting average with 32 hits in 51 at bats, including the team's only two home runs. He racked up a team-high on-base percentage of .716, just a hair higher than the .706 mark posted by Brady Harju, who joined the team midway through the same.

James Price (.545 BA) and Tyler Solomon (.581) both led in RBIs with 30 a piece while Williams and Kyle Whitten (.564) each scored a team-high 40 runs with Elan Goodwin (.571) one behind.

On the mound, Tyler Solomon (1.94 ERA) gave up only 10 earned runs in eight appearances while striking out 24 batters and walking 14. Kyle Casey had the lowest ERA at 1.53 in 19 and two-thirds innings pitched. Solomon, Casey, Goins and Goodwin each threw three complete games and James Price hurled another.

Combined, the boys ERA hovered at 2.08 and they had more than twice as many strikeouts (117) than hits allowed (52).

Manager Solomon contends that his team has at least three pitchers that would be No. 1 starters for most other teams, if not four.

Goins and Goodwin have both raised their own pitching speed by six to eight miles per hour during the off-season and are throwing around 55 mph now, according to Solomon, while Tyler Solomon is above 60 mph.

"The key is, what are these kids going to be doing when they're 12, 13?" asked Solomon.

Their battery mates of Owens and Whitten are also progressing as catchers, explained the coach.

"...They're going into the next phase at this age level of game leadership," Solomon said. He mentioned the boys are learning to incorporate "game command like a catcher should have" by "stepping up more to the plate in understanding game situations, being able to encourage a pitcher, being able to frame pitches and being able to command the game more."

Once the spring season kicks into high gear, the Generals will not have to go far to duke it out with some of the nation's other best talent.

Instead, right in their own backyard, the nationally-ranked No. 4 Gainesville Cannons will be facing off with the Generals May 9 in Manassas.

For an area like western Prince William County to produce two national powerhouses can only be a good thing for their joint instructors Matt Caudle and Dave Carroll. The two coaches at Battlefield High School are essentially grooming their future talent while giving Stonewall Jackson and Brentsville District some future ammo as well.

"If any school's got the most kids, it's Battlefield," said Shepard, noting four out of 12 players live in the Gainesville-Haymarket area. Most of the rest come from the surrounding greater-Manassas area with one boy out of Centreville and another from Lake Ridge.

The Generals mantra this year is "50-and-5" as a reference to the win-loss record they would like to accumulate by the end of their time as 10-year-olds. Starting out the year 22-0, they're already halfway there, producing 15 runs a game on average to their competitors' two.

"It's all sides of the baseball field. They are just dominating," said Shepard. "It's scary."