High School Preview: Looking at the Baltimore area's top prep players and teams in 2017 - BaltimoreBaseball.com
We kick it off today with previews of top players and teams to watch in Baltimore and its surrounding counties, as well as the private schools’ MIAA.
Then, next Tuesday, will be the first installment of our popular, “Prep Ballplayer of the Week” feature and vote.
We highlight three of the Baltimore area’s top individual performances each week throughout the season. The readers then get to vote — early and often — for the finalist they believe should be our prep winner. Voting ends on Thursday nights and the winner is announced every Friday.
The “Prep Ballplayer of the Week” will normally run Mondays, but because this Monday is Opening Day for the Orioles, we’re pushing our first vote to Tuesday, April 4. After that, it will return to Mondays, just like last season.
If you’re interested in submitting candidates for our consideration, please send the player’s name, key statistics from the previous week and your contact information to my email, [email protected]. We welcome suggestions and your feedback.
The 2016, Class 3A state finalist should once again be in the mix for a state title. Shortstop Dillon Oxyer and center fielder Blake Rebstock are all-county picks who look to lead the Cougars’ defense in 2017. And junior Joe Seidler is a terrific, two-way player, dominating on the mound and at the plate.
The shortstop is looking for a strong finish to his high school career after being a Baltimore Sun All-Metro selection in 2016. A leadoff hitter with both power and speed, Arocho batted .435 last season, drove in 17 RBIs and hit three home runs. He also legged out six doubles, three triples and swiped 15 bases.
The Engineers look to contend for another title, and return a number of veteran players from last year’s city championship team, including seniors Nicklaus Powell and Robert Mack and juniors Michael Heck and Isaac Spokes.
Farrar-Wynn can play all over the diamond: catcher, middle infield and center field. But he makes his biggest mark with his bat and his legs. He hit .565 with 23 doubles, nine triples and 38 stolen bases last year and will be counted on to be the team captain this season.
Catonsville took a step in the right direction from 2015 to 2016, earning two more wins and a spot in the regional finals. In 2017, the Comets are ready for another run. Six starters return from last year’s squad, three of which man the infield.
For a second straight year, Getzendanner hopes to use his Ted Williams-like eye to find success at the plate. The second-team, All-Metro selection struck out only twice in 74 appearances. The second baseman batted .456 with an on-base percentage of .581.
Century looks to contend for the Carroll County Athletic League title this season. With six returning junior starters, highlighted by Old Dominion University commit Michael Marrale, the Knights will make some noise throughout 2017.
The Owls lost pitchers Justin Buberl and Brandon Martin, two key starters, to graduation last year. This season, Westminster will be relying on Cotter, a right-hander. The second-team, all-county selection posted a 2.06 ERA last season with a 3-1 record.
Patterson Mill advanced to the Class 1A state finals game in 2016. The Huskies are shaping up for another appearance – and won’t expect anything less, largely due to a formidable pitching staff.
How much better can Koehn get? In 2016, he pitched Patterson Mill to the state championship game. The first-team, All-Metro selection posted a 1.42 ERA over the course of the season. He earned 10 wins and only registered one loss.
Mount Hebron has appeared in three-straight, regional title games. The Vikings’ lineup consists of a number of guys who contribute in many different ways. They hope to get over the hump with VCU commit and All-Metro pitcher Jack Schroeder.
The first-team, all-county selection impressed many last year. Garner struck out 91 batters in just over 55 innings. He earned five wins and posted a 1.27 ERA – lowering that number from 3.90 in his sophomore season.
The Cardinals have a lot to be excited for as their 2017 campaign gets underway. Seven of their fifteen seniors are returning starters. A well-balanced roster and plenty of depth should, once again, put them in contention in a competitive A Conference.
The second-team, All-Metro selection hopes to carry over his offensive success into his senior season. Lopez, a shortstop, hit .440 with a .587 on-base percentage. The Johns Hopkins University commit had 32 RBIs, scored 42 runs and stole 17 bases.
Adam Pohl chats with Orioles Hangout's Luke Siler about the Mike Elias hiring and its potential impact on the minor league system.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, center, is escorted by his security delegation as he visits Marina Bay in Singapore on June 11, 2018, ahead of Kim's summit with President Donald Trump.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left his luxurious hotel for a late-night city tour of Singapore on Monday, just hours ahead of his historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cyclist at the center of the upcoming documentary "The Armstrong Lie."
Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cyclist at the center of the upcoming documentary "The Armstrong Lie." (Joel Saget/AFP)
Filmmaker Alex Gibney’s Lance Armstrong documentary isn’t exactly going to be the comeback story the cyclist first imagined.
Produced by Sony Pictures and now set to come out later this year from Sony Pictures Classics, Gibney’s film will be called “The Armstrong Lie,” Sony said Wednesday.
"We set out to make a movie about a comeback — with unlimited and unprecedented access to Armstrong and the inner workings of the Tour de France. Along the way, we ended up chronicling the collapse of one of the greatest myths and legends of our time,” producers Matt Tolmach and Frank Marshall said in a statement.
Sony and Armstrong have a long relationship. For years, the studio developed a movie based on the cyclist's 2000 memoir, "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life," which chronicled Armstrong's recovery from metastasized testicular cancer to his first Tour de France victory in 1999.
In 2009, Sony shifted gears, saying it would finance a documentary about the cyclist’s return from retirement, following him as he competed in that year’s Tour de France. Armstrong finished third, with worse news around the corner.
Last year, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency charged Armstrong with using performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong was banned from the sport and stripped of his seven Tour de France wins between 1999 and 2005.
In the middle of production on the documentary, Gibney (whose most recent film is “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks”) made a prophetic comment about how Armstrong, who tried to destroy people who accused him of cheating, protected his image.
"Maybe the most daunting part of telling this story is that Lance is so very good at telling his own story," Gibney said at the time. "There are levels within levels. He's a masterful producer-director of his own myth."