Sunday, July 31, 2011

Landon’s Kra named top prospect at Crab Claw Classic

Four county baseball players participate at two-day event in Hanover

by James Peters, Staff Writer

When Landon School senior Max Kra arrived Friday at the Mid-Atlantic High School Baseball Classic, he was just a name among over 150 international players practicing for college coaches at Hanover’s Joe Cannon Stadium.

By the end of the day, he was the name.

Kra earned the “Top Prospect Award” in the first of two days at the event, which consisted of pitching, hitting and fielding drills. The best 40 rising junior and senior high schoolers were selected by coaches for the next day’s Crab Claw Classic, with teams split into North and South All-Star teams.

“There was a lot of great talent here, so being recognized as the top player means a lot,” said Kra, who was also named the South’s top pitcher and best contact hitter. “I’m happy but not satisfied yet. There’s a lot of summer left and a lot of baseball left as far as other events.”

An All-Gazette second-team selection after batting .468 this spring, Kra will be attending a similar event in Long Island, N.Y. this week and participate in tournaments with his club team, Rookies Baseball. The pitcher-third baseman was joined on the South team by Quince Orchard’s Alex Lipman and Billy Plante, who play second base and catcher, respectively, and Good Counsel outfielder Ryan Marshall. The North stars won Saturday’s game, 12-11, on a two-run single by the game’s Most Valuable Player, Liberty’s Andrew Massey.

“I thought it was a fun experience,” Plante said. “I don’t get to do this very often. ... You get to play in front of the college coaches.”

The event was founded by Old Mill graduate Lou Holcomb, a former minor leaguer in the Texas Rangers organization.

“The combine went great,” Holcomb said. “Some years we get up around 200 [players]. We had kids come from Canada, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, DC and Delaware.”

Holcomb called 2011 “the toughest year to choose the team” in the nine-year history of the event, because of its depth.

Plante singled in the game’s first run in the second inning and made big plays behind the plate throughout the contest. Kra went 1-for-3 at the plate and allowed a run in the tenth inning, his only one on the mound.

“It was a lot different than pitching against [Georgetown] Prep and some schools like that,” Kra said. “But it’s still intense, still good, and in front of a lot of people.”

Marshall doubled in the ninth and later scored on a single by Severna Park’s Bradley Keith. Lipman went hitless in two at-bats.

“It was a blast just being with all of these people and having a great time,” Marshall said.

Avalon School coach Patrick Duffy helped coach the South squad.

jpeters@gazette.net