Prep Baseball Report

2018 Season Preview: MPSSAA Class 3A


Jerry Shank
Maryland Director

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Class 3A

NORTH

WEST

SOUTH

EAST

SECTION I SECTION I
SECTION I
SECTION I
Blake
Franklin Baltimore Poly
Atholton
Magruder Lansdowne City College
Centennial
Manchester Valley
Milford Mill Acad
Digital Harbor
Long Reach
Rockville
Parkville Oxon Hill
Mount Hebron
Watkins Mill
Towson
Potomac
Reservoir
Westminster
Woodlawn Southwestern

SECTION II SECTION II SECTION II SECTION II
Frederick
Aberdeen
Chopticon
Chesapeake
Gov. Thomas Johnson
Bel Air Great Mills James M. Bennett
Linganore CM Wright Huntingtown Northeast
North Hagerstown Dundalk Northern Stephen Decatur
South Hagerstown Edgewood St. Charles  
Tuscarora Kenwood    
  Patapsco  

 

3A Key Players

We pick the top 15 players whose performance this season will play a huge role in the success of the team. We will only pick one player from each team, so those teams with multiple stars, we pick the one player we feel their successful season is most important to team success. 

  1. Joe Seidler, Chesapeake
  2. Marcus Lee Sang, Northern
  3. Tristan McDonough, Stephen Decatur
  4. Ryan Terrents, Huntingtown
  5. Dallas Repine, James M. Bennett
  6. Kyle Sulkowski, Towson
  7. Glenn Stratton, Centennial
  8. Tyler Green, Northeast
  9. Zach Willett, Linganore
  10. Justin Reese, Atholton
  11. Scott Cameron, Chopticon
  12. Liam Bowers, Bel Air
  13. Tyler Leach, CM Wright
  14. Nate Jones, Aberdeen
  15. Lake Lloyd, Mount Hebron

Region Breakdown

3A West

Contenders (In Alphabetical Order)

  1. Linganore
  2. Magruder
  3. Rockville
  4. Thomas Johnson
  5. Westminster

With one quick move, two of the would be top contenders in the 3A west for this year got placed into tougher situations (Urbana, Poolesville). There are still some interesting contenders in this region and a new face will get an opportunity to take the region. Linganore has a deep squad returning this year and will be led by Brett Tibbs and Zach Willett. Gov. Thomas Johnson will be looking to take home the championship this season after coming up just short in the 3A west title game last year. Keep an eye on their exciting young freshmen, Maryland commit Jacob Orr. Rockville should once again be a top contender to make it out of section I.

3A North

Contenders

  1. Aberdeen
  2. Bel Air
  3. CM Wright
  4. Towson

The 3A North looks to be a battle of Harford County schools with UCBAC powers Bel Air and CM Wright as our top contenders out of this region. Bel Air comes down to 3A two years removed from their 4A state title performance in 2016. Though they lost their two key arms from last year in Zack Radcliffe (MA-Maritme) and Michael Yetter (Mount St. Mary's), look for potential replacements in Tyler Schimming and Cameron Kalandros to pick up the slack. Offensively they will be led by Liam Bowers...CM Wright is an interesting contender this year with some young talents to follow in Tyler Leach and Jacob Spurlock...Towson looks to be the top contender from Baltimore county with Kyle Sulkowski as their ace and C Andrew Decker...Nate Jones will be a key offensive returner for Aberdeen and may see more time on the mound this season for Aberdeen.

3A South

Contenders

  1. Chopticon
  2. Huntingtown
  3. Northern

It's really a coin flip looking at the South with our three contenders as they will it out for a SMAC championship and again for a Region title. Coming back down to 3A are the Chopticon Braves, which last time they were in 3A LJay Newsome put on one of the most impressive performances in the state tournament en route to an exciting Chopticon victory in the 3A state championship. This year looks like it could be another special year for the Braves in 3A. They will have a pretty dynamic offense with key cogs in the middle of Zach Roberts (Brunswick), Chase Burroughs (Charlotte), Gavin Tippett, and Scott Cameron. Cameron should be a top arm in the rotation and they will need another to step up and make up for the loss of Jake Wood...Northern could be set up for a run this 2018 spring after a nice 2017 season and returning over half of their lineup along with plenty of staff. They will be led by talented 2019 Marcus Lee Sang (St. John's) who will be an offensive force for the team as well as a top arm on the mound. And when in the outfield they may have the top outfield out there with Lee Sang, Mason Davidson, and Bryce Leslie. With most of the team in the junior class, the Patriots look poised to make this a multiple year contention...Huntingtown might have the deepest team in the state as well as the SMAC this year with Six starters returning on offense plus the addition of top 2020 C Clay Wargo (Coastal Carolin), who transferred in. Ryan Terrents will again be one of the top players on the team bringing two-way talent while manning shortstop when not pitching. Jack Morales and Joe Mozingo will also paced the offense and keep an eye on Matt Pritchett, who transferred in. Look for Cy Harwood to build off a solid freshmen campaign.

3A East

Contenders

  1. Atholton
  2. Centennial
  3. Chesapeake
  4. James M Bennett
  5. Stephen Decatur

Probably the toughest Region yet again in 3A is the East Region, with Howard County, Anne Arundel, and the big schools of the Bayside conference making up the region. You have to start with Chesapeake in this conversation, having won the region and making it to the state final two years in a row with a third appearance not out of the question. Joe Siedler will again lead the way in his senior campaign and will  be one of the top two-way talents in the state. Dylan Young has evolved into a top starter last season and should once again give them a nice 1-2 punch with Colby Buckheit making a strong three on the pitching staff...Talent wise, James M. Bennet could be a top contender, but consistency throughout the season has always been a thorn in their side. They have three strong arms in the staff with Sangho Baek, Dallas Repine, and Max Taylor. Tyler Shockley and Hunter White will be key sticks in the lineup, with White being a top power threat in the Shore. Keep an eye on 2019 Brett Swift, who was called up last season and put together a nice second half of the year. He could easily become a nice middle of the order option for Bennett...Tristan McDonough has been a household name since freshmen year and now going into his senior season, he is hoping to lead the Seahawks to the state title game. The Seahawks have some interesting young talent around McDonough which could make them an intriguing candidate for a title. Those youngsters include Hunter Selzer, Evan Truitt, and Noah Ager.. 2018 Mitchel Orf will be a mainstay in the outfield and Ryan Duncan should also provide outfield help and potential on the mound as well. Gavin Bunting should also be a key player in the outfield for the Seahawks...Atholton has the potential to take the region this year and have a nice core returning offensively that will be led by Justin Reese and Connor McManus. Their top four hitters return in the aforementioned Reese and McManus with Jack Lawrence and Zach Snow looking to build off of their 2017 seasons hitting just below .300. On the mound Reese and Jack Johnson will be key arms for the team. Both are good arms that will need to lower their free base totals (walks, hit-by-pitch). If that can happen it could go a long way for the season. Johnson averaged over a strikeout per inning and could make a big jump this year in his junior season. Keep an eye on Benji Thalheimer, and Carson Collier to build off their nice 2017 season on the mound...Don't count out Centennial HS as the Howard county team has talented players like Alex Crocamo, Glenn Stratton, Todd Hendrix, and Jake Watson.

Predictions

3A WEST CHAMP
- Rockville

3A NORTH CHAMP
- Bel Air

3A SOUTH CHAMP
- Huntingtown

3A EAST CHAMP
- Chesapeake

State Finals
(Semi-Finals consist of West Champ v North Champ and South Champ v East Champ)

Bel Air v Huntingtown

Champion

- Huntingtown

Don't overlook the SMAC, a tough conference from top to bottom. Whoever comes out of the South has a great shot to take the championship. We think Huntingtown's depth will be a key to their season and they will find plenty of people to round out their staff.