By Chris Rogers
Now that summer leagues around the country have concluded, we’ll take a final look at how Terps performed.
The biggest story by far is shortstop Kevin Smith, who helped lead the Y-D Red Sox to the Cape Cod League championship. He hit .370 with 3 homers, 7 RBI and 6 runs scored to capture the CCBL Playoff MVP award as the Red Sox won their third straight title. During the regular season, Smith was just as impressive, leading the Red Sox with 43 hits and 12 doubles while hitting .301 and playing in all but three of the team’s games.
Second baseman Nick Dunn enjoyed a fine summer in the Cape as well, finishing in the top ten in the league in hitting (.311, 9th), hits (51, T-3rd), RBI (25, T-3rd) and runs scored (26, 5th) while knocking eight doubles, two triples, and a homer. Brewster failed to make the playoffs, but that doesn’t take anything away from Dunn’s stellar summer campaign. Right-hander Ryan Selmer finished the regular season with a 3.17 ERA and 12 strikeouts across 22.2 innings of relief for the Cape’s Wareham Gatemen. He made only one playoff appearance, allowing an earned run on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.
In the Cal Ripken League, outfielder Marty Costes put together a nice season for the Baltimore Redbirds, hitting .319 with a team-high seven home runs and 24 RBI.
His fellow Terps in Baltimore, pitchers Mike Rescigno, Andrew Miller, Tyler Blohm and Hunter Parsons each enjoyed strong seasons as well, all finishing with ERAs below 2.50. In one playoff appearance, Rescigno tossed 2.2 shutout innings with four strikeouts. Miller was just as dominant in the postseason, allowing just one earned run in 5.1 innings of work. While Blohm and Parsons struggled in the playoffs, their regular season numbers are nothing to scoff at, as they posted ERAs of 2.07 and 1.41, respectively.
Down the road, catcher/first baseman Justin Morris finished his summer with the Bethesda Big Train hitting .287 with 10 doubles and 25 RBI. He drove in four more runs in the playoffs en route to the Big Train winning their first Cal Ripken League championship in five years. John Murphy and Peyton Sorrels did not blossom in Bethesda however, as Murphy’s ERA neared 5 while Sorrels hit just .156.
With the Ripken League’s Gaithersburg Giants, infielder Pat Hisle hit just .221 in the regular season, but went 2-for-8 in the playoffs with an RBI in the postseason. His teammates, Nick Pantos and Truman Thomas, struggled as well. Pantos’s solid 3.53 ERA was overshadowed by his worrisome 1:1 K:BB ratio, and Thomas finished the season with a 5.91 ERA. For the Silver Spring Takoma Thunderbolts, catchers Nick Cieri (.301, 5 HR, 24 RBI) and Ty Friedrich (.351, 7 RBI) both flourished in limited time, while Jared Price notched four saves.
In the Valley League, Andrew Green made 13 appearances in the regular season, posting a 6.88 ERA, and did not make a playoff appearance.
Meanwhile with the Amsterdam Mohawks, Cameron Enck set a Perfect Game League record with a 0.39 ERA during the regular season. He continued his brilliance in the playoffs as well, going 2-0 in two starts with a 1.38 ERA in 13 IP as the Mohawks won their fourth league title in five years. Catcher Dan Maynard never got hot during the regular season, hitting just .185 with 16 RBI in 26 games, but he turned it on come playoff time, going 4-for-13 with three doubles.
In the New England Collegiate Baseball League, outfielder Zach Jancarski was a key player on a Sanford Mainers team that made it all the way to the championship series. During the regular season, he hit .288 with 10 doubles and 20 stolen bases, and he stayed hot into the playoffs, hitting .294 with eight runs scored in eight games. Jamal Wade contributed in more ways than one for the Keene Swamp Bats, hitting .267 in 75 at-bats, while pitching to a 1.58 ERA in 11.1 innings on the mound.
In the Alaskan League, AJ Lee and Madison Nickens played for the title-winning Mat-Su Miners, although neither saw any playing time in the postseason. Lee recovered from a slow start to hit .255 with 20 runs scored in the regular season, but Nickens struggled the whole summer, hitting just .146 with no extra-base hits.
Each player’s regular season statistics are available in the table below.
Statistics
Maryland Baseball Network 