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With the 2019 Maryland High School baseball season just underway and games right around the corner, we begin to close out our complete preseason coverage with a look at every conference throughout that state. We will break down each conference with a preview of teams expected to contend as well as key players from across the league that you won't want to miss play. 

Note: A preseason questionnaire was sent out to all Maryland high school baseball coaches in Mid-January to gain pertinent information for this piece but not all forms were completed and returned. Below is a compilation of information received as well as thoughts from our staff at PBR Maryland.

 

Players to Watch in Carroll County

JB Berry (South Carroll)
Alex Barnes (Winters Mill)
Matt Born (Century)
Grant Bradt (Winters Mill)
Ryan Clatterbuck (Westminster)
Brett DeWees (Manchester Valley)
Alex Hess (South Carroll)
Haden Hoff (Westminster)
Austin Massey (Liberty)
Eddie Meredith (Manchester Valley)
Matthew Myers (Manchester Valley)
Jared Lamb (Century)
Conner Peters (Winters Mill) 
Jacob Rostkowski (South Carroll)
Peyton Scheufele (Liberty)
Jake Sell (Westminster)
Nick Trey (South Carroll)

 

Carroll County Athletic League

Teams
*Century Knights
Westminster Owls
Winters Mill Falcons
Liberty Lions
South Carroll Cavaliers
Manchester Valley Mavericks
Francis Scott Key Eagles

*Denotes 2018 Conference Champion

 

2019 Season Outlook

Century swept the county in convincing fashion finishing 12-0 in conference to claim the Carroll County crown in 2018. The Knights continued and concluded their remarkable season by winning both the 2A West Region and 2A State Championship. Century will have a much different look in 2019 however, with several key players gone from last year's squad including All-Carroll County 1st Team members Nathanael Hibbs, Ethan Kiple, Jeremy Lapp, Jared Lamb, Michael Marrale and head coach Mike Marrale. Marrale retired following the Knights 4-1 win over La Plata from Charles County in the State Championship.  

2018 JV head coach Chris Poe will take over as the new head coach of the varsity program bringing with him a strong core of players from a deep JV team that also ripped through the Carroll County Athletic League last season. Jared Lamb and Matt Born return from last year's Championship team and will be looked upon as two of the leaders with this younger group in 2019. While Century may be younger and more inexperienced, they still look to have a solid team that will be in contention for a County Championship. 

Westminster loses Nick Henneman (.525 AVG), and both aces from a year ago in Bill Scanlon (.449 AVG, 34 K's in 29.1 IP), and Aaron Golberg (.462 AVG, 4-0 W-L) but return 2018 1st Team All-Carroll County and Alderson and Broaddus commit Ryan Clatterbuck as well as fellow senior Jake Sell (Westfield State University), and junior OF/C Haden Hoff. The trio will anchor a strong lineup that also looks to include seniors Nathan Barber, Hunter Barber, Cory Moran, and junior Tyler Buberl. The Owls big question mark in 2019 comes on the mound. Sell, Moran, N. Barber, Clatterbuck, and Connor Thompson return as options but none of them have extensive experience with Moran leading the group in inning pitched from last season with 10. Key newcomer Riley Warren figures to also see some innings as head coach Mark Winebrunner searches for guys early in the season to step up and claim roles in the rotation. 

Manchester Valley, South Carroll, and Winters Mill also figure to be contenders for the Carroll County Championship this year. The Mavericks lose All-Carroll County 1st Team selection Caleb Ludwig who is now playing at Lebanon Valley but return their dynamic lead-off hitter and center fielder Matthew Myers. Myers garnered All-Carroll County 1st team honors as a sophomore last season with a .377 batting average and will be joined by juniors Eddie Meredith and Brett DeWees as key upperclassmen on this year's roster. 

South Carroll returns a strong core of players in 2019 with JB Berry and Jacob Rostkowski looking to anchor the staff for the Cavaliers. Juniors Alex Hess and Nick Trey figure to be key sticks in this year's lineup and sophomore Nick Malone could end up being a key piece both in the lineup and on the mound for them this season. The loss of 2018 All-Carroll County 1st Team member Josh Kaye will hurt but the Cavaliers still look like they have several key pieces that should make them contenders. 

Winters Mill returns senior OF and 2018 All-Carroll County 1st Team selection Alex Barnes, fellow senior Grant Bradt (California University of Pennsylvania), and junior Conner Peters. Peters will anchor the Falcons staff while Barnes and Bradt lead the way on offense. 3rd year head coach Erik Barnes will rely heavily on some younger players like Jonny Bobnar to step up and fill the holes left behind by Dylan Waltemeyer, Nate Lance, and Deion Blackburn. 

Liberty could also be sneaky with Austin Massey and Peyton Scheufele leading the way for the Lions and it will be interesting to see what 1st year head coach Todd Hartshorn has in store for Francis Scott Key. Hartshorn was previously the head coach for several years at Hereford High School in Baltimore County where he built a very strong Bulls program.

The 2019 season looks to be wide open in Carroll County with no clear-cut favorite to win it all. The parody should make for an intriguing season and one that may just come down to the final week before we find out a winner.

 

 

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