County well-represented

By JAMES PETERS Staff Writer

Capital Gazette Communications

Published 07/31/11

Archbishop Spalding and Severna Park boasted two of the state's best teams last season. If the selection process for yesterday's 9th Annual Mid-Atlantic High School Baseball Classic is any indication, expect more of the same.

A total of seven Cavaliers and Falcons were selected to participate in the Crab Claw Classic, a 10-inning, 40-player all-star game held last night. The game itself was the climax of a two-day event that began with Friday's combine workout. Both the combine and the game were held at Joe Cannon Stadium.

Old Mill's Evan Shaffer and Arundel's Steven Ghiardi were also selected for the Crab Claw Classic.

"It was a great atmosphere coming out here with the best guys from a couple of different states," said Severna Park's Bradley Keith, who was one of four Falcons to represent either the North Black Claws or the South Gold Claws. "It was a lot fun to get out here and compete and see who the best of the best are and really show your school's colors. It was a lot of fun to come out and compete with guys I see out there every day."

The Mid-Atlantic High School Baseball Classic, which drew some 25 college coaches, is the brainchild of Old Mill High graduate Lou Holcomb, the founder and President of Diamond Recruiter and a former minor-leaguer and player at the University of Maryland.

"The combine went great," Holcomb said. "We had 150-plus kids try out. That's normally where we usually are. Some years we get up around 200. We had kids come from Canada … Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, D.C. and Delaware.

"This was the toughest year to choose the team. We've had years where there have been big discrepancies as to who is going to make it … but it was so balanced this year. We could have put together another two teams with the amount of talent on the field."

Joining Keith on the South squad were Severna Park teammates Jon Neseth and Evan Mendonza, while the North squad included Spalding's Ryan Wagner, Austin Clark and Sean Miller; Severna Park's Brandon Cavil, Shaffer and Ghiardi. The North won the exhibition, 12-11, in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run single by Liberty's Andrew Massey, the game's Most Valuable Player.

The local players generally justified their selection during yesterday's event. Keith, who was the South team's top runner (6.8 seconds in the 60-yard run), worked two scoreless innings on the mound and went 2-for-2 with an RBI at the plate. Neseth, meanwhile stranded a total of five baserunners in his 11/3 innings of work, including striking out Shaffer with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second.

Neseth also faced Severna Park teammate Brandon Cavil in the third. But Cavil won that battle, putting a bounding ball down the third base line for a single. Cavil also drew two walks in the game and scored a run; Mendoza singled and scored in the sixth.

Like Keith, Spalding's Clark worked two innings, allowing a single and recording a strikeout and a groundout. He went 7-0 on the mound during the high school season, helping the Cavaliers capture their first MIAA A Conference title.

"We're a solid team and we keep coming to events like this and gets us better every time," Clark said. "It's not easy playing against guys from all over the state, but it's a fun event. It's a good experience."

Wagner, who was named the North team's top pitcher following the combine, didn't fare quite as well, allowing a couple of unearned runs in his one inning of work. Ghiardi stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the fifth inning with a strikeout and fly out.

Miller, who was selected as the North team's top fielder from the combine, collected a hit, an RBI, two runs scored, a walk and a stolen base. Shaffer, the North's top hitter in terms of contact, finished the game with a triple to right field and then scored on Miller's sacrifice fly.