By Jerry Shank
Maryland Director of Scouting   
Follow @PBRMaryland

Three years ago, newly hired head coach Johnny Poss stepped on campus of St. Mary’s HS and looked at his baseball program: 20 kids to spread across the varsity and JV teams. Needless to say depth wasn’t going to be on their side for Poss’ first campaign.

Flash forward to 2014 and the St. Mary’s program is now entering their final season as a MIAA B division member after finishing last year at 27-1 and undefeated in the conference. Times have changed for the program. PBR Maryland had the opportunity to visit a team voluntary workout this year and the first thing that jumped out was the numbers: close to 50 players showed up for the workout and that wasn’t the entire team. Instantly you could see that a culture has been developed for this program.

Beginning this season, their last as a member of the B division, St. Mary’s will be playing a lot of the traditional powerhouses of the MIAA A as they prepare for the switch in 2016. Those programs include Archbishop Curley, Gilman and John Carroll.  The A division also includes Calvert Hall and Archbishop Spalding, two programs with a lot of history.  The MIAA A division has produced multiple Division I and professional baseball prospects. Though the level of competition is going to get tougher, St. Mary’s baseball seems to be excited about the coming challenge.

Players to keep an eye on include senior LHP Ryan Davis (committed to Fordham), OF Devin Patrick (close to a commitment),  and a large class of  juniors that have been getting collegiate interest such as RHP Elliot Zoellner, C Brady O’Neil, the Rankin twins (Will and Ben), 1B Max Hammond, OF Tre D’Amico and LHP Kade Keys. The future also looks bright with sophomore RHP Jake Norris, freshmen IF Nick Hopkins and freshmen RHP Stephen Pelli.

RETURNING PLAYERS: 7

TOP RETURNERS
LHP Ryan Davis
RHP Elliot Zoellner
C Brady O’Neil
LHP Kade Keys
SS Ben Rankin
3B Will Rankin

WILDCARD
Max Hammond – Max is 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery and seems to be fully recovered. The big left-hand hitting first baseman shows a lot of pop when he gets his hands through and could be a very lethal RBI man if he can stay healthy.

TEAM STRENGTH
Pitching should be the biggest strength of the team this year with their top two arms either committed (Davis) or getting a high amount of interest as a junior (Zoellner).

QUESTION MARK
The team has a lot of table setters in the lineup, but St. Mary’s is going to need someone to clear the table. That could fall on Hammond, O’Neil, and Patrick.

OVERALL
As long as they aren’t looking ahead to playing in the A division of the MIAA next year, St. Mary’s should have another stellar campaign.