Maryland Baseball Network counted down to Opening Day! Today marks the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #0, Anthony Papio.

ANTHONY PAPIO | 0

Position: Student Assistant Coach

Hometown: Olney, Md.

High School: Sherwood High School

Alma Mater: University of Maryland (’16)

About Anthony: Anthony Papio returns to College Park to join the Terrapin’s coaching staff as a student assistant coach after four remarkable seasons on the team.  He holds the team record for most games played (230) and finished second all-time in triples (9).

Papio started his career at Maryland as a walk-on and quickly turned into a key player for the Terps.  As a redshirt freshman, Papio appeared in 47 games, splitting time between right and left field.  He posted a .245 batting average with five doubles and 21 RBIs.  Papio started 53 games as a sophomore, solidifying his spot in right field and batting .271 with nine doubles and two home runs.  As a Junior, Papio became one of just two Terps to start in all 66 games.  He recorded 16 doubles, 26 RBIs and six home runs.  He earned All-Tournament honors at the Los Angeles Regional after a noteworthy defensive performance.  During his final year on the Terps roster, Papio batted .261 with eight doubles, four triples and four home runs.  He finished the year with a hit and a walk in the Big Ten semifinals against Iowa.

Off the field, Papio earned Big Ten All-Academic honors, Maryland’s Outstanding Sportsmanship Award and won the “Iron Terps” competition three years.

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks one day until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #1, Jamal Wade.

JAMAL WADE | 1

Year: Junior

Position: Outfield/Pitcher

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’0″/205 lbs.

Hometown: Owings Mills, Md.

Previous School: St. Paul’s School

2016 Spring Stats: 19 games (4 starts) .111 (3-for-27), 1 R, .200 OBP, .111 SLG

2016 Summer Stats (Keene Swamp Bats, New England Collegiate Baseball League): .267 (20-for-75), 6 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBIs, 9 R, .345 OBP, .427 SLG; 1-1, 11.1 IP, 1.58 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 21 K, 8 BB

About Jamal: After a solid freshman year that saw him slug .451 with five home runs in 35 games, Jamal Wade only appeared in 19 games in 2016. While he batted just .111 in the spring, Wade found success on both sides of the ball while playing summer ball for the Keene Swamp Bats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The Owings Mills, Md., native batted .267 with two home-runs, six doubles, and 11 RBIs, while also seeing time on the mound, where he was 1-1 with a 1.58 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 11.1 IP. Wade’s two way success goes back to high school; in his senior year he posted an 8-1 record and an 0.52 ERA while hitting .500 with 35 RBIs. He is the brother of current Twins’ minor leaguer and former Terp LaMonte Wade. While the Terps’ bullpen and outfield are both crowded this spring, Wade’s versatility could make him an intriguing option at the plate and on the mound.

 

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks two days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #2, Rob Vaughn.

ROB VAUGHN | 2

Position: Associate Head Coach

Hometown: Humble, Texas

Alma Mater: Kansas State (’11)

Experience: 5th season at Maryland

About Vaughn: Rob Vaughn is set to begin his fifth season at Maryland, his first as associate head coach. He first joined the Maryland coaching staff in 2012 after a two-year stint as a volunteer assistant coach at Kansas State University, his alma mater.

After a standout career as a catcher in his four years at Kansas State, Vaughn was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 30th round of the 2009 MLB Draft. He spent parts of two seasons in the minors, where he played with current major leaguers such as Dodgers’ outfielder, Trayce Thompson, and Mets’ reliever, Addison Reed.

While directing Maryland’s recruiting efforts, Vaughn brought in the highest ranked recruiting class in team history in 2015. Under his tutelage, many recent recruits have made an immediate impact at the plate, including Nick Dunn and Marty Costes, who were both awarded Big Ten All-Freshman honors in 2016. In his six years as a coach, Vaughn has coached 24 players who have either been drafted or signed by a professional team, including 2015 draftees Brandon Lowe and LaMonte Wade.

Vaughn’s refers to his hitting philosophy as “The Pack.” In the Pack, each hitter has his own role, whether it be to run, drive in runs, be a “master of execution,” or a combination of the three. The three Pillars of the Pack, as Vaughn calls these attributes, are vital in the Pack’s effort to function as a single unit.

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks three days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #3, Zach Jancarski.

ZACH JANCARSKI | 3

Year: Junior

Position: Outfield

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’0”/180

Hometown: East Norriton, Pa.

Previous School: Chestnut Hill Academy

2016 Spring Stats: 46 G (28 GS), .257, 4 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 18 R, 5 SB

2016 Summer Stats (Sanford Mainers, NECBL): .288, 10 2B, 13 RBI, 27 R, 20 SB

About Zach: As a freshman, Zach Jancarski appeared in 28 games for the Terps, starting in four.  He went on to establish himself as the every day center fielder during late April of his sophomore season. He hit .257 but got on base at a .348 clip and ranked third on the team with five stolen bases.  Jancarski was an All-Star for the Sanford Mainers in the New England Collegiate Baseball League last summer, and finished second in the league with 20 stolen bases.

Jancarski was featured on the latest episode of the Maryland Baseball Network podcast, which can be found below.

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks four days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #4, Kevin Smith.

KEVIN SMITH | 4

Year: Junior

Position: Shortstop

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’0 / 188

Hometown: East Greenbush, NY

Previous School: Columbia High School

2016 Summer Stats (Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, CCBL): 
41 games, .301/.348/.427, 21 runs, 12 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI
Postseason: 7 games, .370/.345/.778, 2 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI

2016 Spring Stats: 
57 games (57 starts), .259/.308/.409, 9 2B, 8 HR, 34 RBI

About Kevin: No other player on the Terps’ roster has received more summer and preseason accolades than Kevin Smith.

The junior shortstop was named the Cape Cod Baseball League LCS MVP after leading his Y-D Red Sox team to a third straight title, batting .370 with three home runs during the playoff run. Of his 10 postseason hits, five were for extra bases (three home runs, two doubles). As a result of his stellar summer, Smith was named D1Baseball.com’s “Breakout Summer Prospect,” the No. 5 prospect in the Cape Cod League, and has consistently been in the top-20 in various 2017 college prospect breakdowns.

Smith was named a Preseason First-Team All-American by both Baseball American and Perfect Game, and was named a Preseason-Third Team All-American by D1Baseball.com. All three publications tabbed Smith as the Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year. In addition,Baseball America. named him as the best defensive shortstop in the Big Ten, the top 2017 prospect in the Big Ten.

Last season, Smith was one of just two players—the other Nick Dunn—to start and play in all 57 games. He tied with Madison Nickens for second on the team in home runs (8), finished second on the team with 60 hits (trailing Dunn, 68), and was second on the team with 34 RBIs, trailing only Marty Costes (37).

The junior also played in every game his freshman season, when he was named a Freshman All-American. Dating back to that year (2014-2015), Smith has started—at shortstop—for 115 consecutive games.

Smith joined MBN on the Maryland Baseball Network podcast in November, along with D1Baseball.com’s Aaron Fitt.

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks five days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #5, Brandon Gum.

BRANDON GUM | 5

Year: Redshirt Senior

Position: Infield

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’2″ / 185 lbs.

Hometown: Woodbridge, Va.

Previous School: George Mason University

2016 Spring Stats: .304 (14-for-46), 2 2B, 4 RBI, 11 R, .407 OBP, .457 SLG

About Brandon: Transfer infielder Brandon Gum comes to Maryland as a redshirt senior, playing in just 11 games last season for George Mason due to an injury. He started in all 11 games he played in, however, and hit above .300 for the Patriots, adding a pair of doubles, a home run and 11 runs scored. In Gum’s last full season in 2015, he was a key player for George Mason. He ranked second on his team with a .338 batting average, and tallied the third-longest hitting streak in George Mason history — 25 games. He also earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team honors. Gum played against the Terps three times as a Patriot, going 4-for-10 with 3 RBIs. Gum has experience at both positions on the left side on the infield but will get the bulk of his opportunities this season at third base, along with AJ Lee.

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks seven days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #7, Mike Vasturia.

MIKE VASTURIA | 7

Year: Freshman

Position: Pitcher

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’5″ / 235 lbs.

Hometown: Medford, N.J.

Previous School: St. Augustine Preparatory School

2016 Spring Stats: None

About Mike: Mike Vasturia dominated as a junior at St. Augustine Prep, posting a 6-3 record with a 1.18 ERA, 5o strikeouts and 10 walks. He didn’t pitch during his senior season after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery to “clean out the joint” in April, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Despite the setback, Perfect Game still rated him the No. 8 pitcher and No. 18 player overall in New Jersey in the 2016 class. A Perfect Game scout said Vasturia “pounds the strike zone with a heavy fastball with lots of sink and run” and that he “gets outstanding sink at times on his changeup.” Vasturia’s fastball reaches the high 80s. His older brother, Steve, is a senior at Notre Dame, averaging 14.1 points per game for the Fighting Irish basketball team.

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks 8 days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #8, Corey Haines.

Position: Volunteer Assistant Coach

Hometown: Elkton, Md.

Alma Mater: Maryland (’11)

Experience: 5th season at Maryland

About Haines: Corey Haines is entering his fifth season as the Terps’ volunteer assistant coach, after graduating from the University of Maryland in 2011 with a degree in kinesiology.

Haines serves as Maryland’s first-base coach throughout the season, and is in charge of organizing Maryland’s offseason prospect camps at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.

Prior to his graduation, the Elkton, Md. native was a volunteer and student assistant coach for three seasons, from 2009-2011. He played for two years at Cecil College as a second baseman, appearing in the regional championship in 2007 and winning the Maryland JuCo state title in 2008.

In 2012, Haines served as an assistant coach with Shippensburg University, coaching infielders and hitters, and focusing on base running. The Raiders finished with a record of 32-21, a nine-win improvement from the season before.

In the summers of 2011 and 2012, Haines was the head coach for the Alexandria Aces, a member of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. He led the Aces to the team’s first playoff appearance in franchise history in 2012.

 

Maryland Baseball Network is counting down to Opening Day! Today marks 10 days until the start of the 2017 season, so here’s a look at #9, Jared Price.

JARED PRICE | 9

Year: Redshirt Senior

Position: Pitcher

Bats/Throws: R/R

Height/Weight: 6’3″ / 240 lbs.

Hometown: Mohnton, Pa.

Previous School: Twin Valley High School

2016 Spring Stats: 2 G, 0-0, 1 IP, 1 R, 9.00 ERA

2016 Summer Stats (Silver Spring-Takoma T-Bolts, Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League): 1-1, 3.55 ERA, 12.2 IP, 12 SO, 4 SV

About Jared: An injury sidelined Price for nearly the entire 2016 season but the redshirt senior had a nice summer in the Cal Ripken League, recording four saves and appearing in 10 games. Price, who was drafted by the New York Mets out of high school, has worked on improving his velocity after shoulder surgery in the fall of 2014. In the 2015, Price made 11 appearances, pitched 8.1 innings and allowed six runs. Looking to wrap up his collegiate career with a consistent, healthy season, Price will attempt to find his spot in a bullpen that features Mike Rescigno and Ryan Selmer.