MD JUCO Preview: Montgomery College

February 15, 2019
Kyle Campbell
Maryland Scouting Director

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JUCO programs across the state of Maryland began preseason practices back in early January. As the calendar quickly turns and with several teams getting ready to open up their 2019 campaigns in the next few weeks, we begin our coverage of the Maryland JUCO Conference with a preseason preview of all fourteen schools. In each preview, we will take a look back at the 2018 season, examine key players that have moved on or left the program, look at some new faces and key players for the upcoming season, and finally take a sneak peak at whats ahead for the 2019 season. We continue our preseason previews with a look at the Montgomery College Raptors.

Montgomery COLLEGE 2019 SEASON PREVIEW

Head Coach: Dan Rascher (14th Season)
Mascot: Raptors
2018 Record: 29-18
2018 MD JUCO Finish: 4th Place
2018 DIII Region XX Finish: Runner-up
Twitter Handle: @MC_Raptors
CLICK HERE to view the Montgomery College Baseball Website
CLICK HERE to view the Montgomery College 2019 Baseball Schedule
CLICK HERE to view the Montgomery College 2019 Baseball Roster

2019 PBR JUCO NATIONAL PRESEASON RANK: NR

Returning Players with 2018 Postseason Honors

Ryo Fabre: NJCAA All-Region XX DIII First Team

Returning Starters: 7

PLAYER	POS	GP	AVG	OBP	SLG	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Will Burgess	INF	43	.326	.485	.597	44	42	11	3	6	34	8
Ryo Fabre	INF	40	.360	.437	.504	42	50	9	1	3	31	7
Teddy Grass	C	21	.286	.333	.375	7	16	2	0	1	12	1
Josh Sherman	INF	16	.152	.349	.152	7	5	0	0	0	3	0
Payton Shubert	INF	39	.229	.377	.352	23	24	2	4	1	21	2
Sean Sullivan	OF	25	.307	.454	.413	22	23	5	0	1	9	14
Cole Wykoff	C	4	.111	.273	.111	2	1	0	0	0	0	0

Returning Pitchers: 2

PLAYER	POS	APP	W	L	S	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA
Matt Dow	RHP	13	2	4	1	35.1	59	55	46	28	23	11.72
Bill Swanstrom	LHP	7	3	2	1	26.1	32	16	12	9	17	4.10

Key Losses

PLAYER	POS	GP	AVG	OBP	SLG	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Austin Grass	C	43	.338	.399	.434	36	49	8	0	2	29	1
Harold Marte	INF	43	.378	.484	.512	31	48	11	0	2	31	0
Darren Prebble	OF	43	.319	.441	.420	29	38	4	1	2	22	2
PLAYER	POS	APP	W	L	S	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA
Jamil Canaan	P	16	2	2	4	34.2	41	33	22	14	42	5.71
Clayton Dwyer	P	12	8	2	1	72.0	65	33	26	9	87	3.25
Michael Hovermill	P	12	5	0	0	50.2	55	34	29	21	43	5.15

Clayton Dwyer (Salisbury University)
Michael Hovermill (University of North Alabama)
Darren Prebble (Limestone College)

Top Newcomers

Connor Brady LHP Sherwood (MD)
Zeke Gongola RHP St. John's (DC)
AJ Javitt OF/LHP St. John's (DC)
Bruce Pattishall Jr. RHP/INF Paint Branch (MD) / Harford CC

Key Players for 2019

Will Burgess (So.) INF Washington-Lee (VA) / Shepherd University
Zeke Gongola (Fr.) P St. John's (DC)
AJ Javitt (Fr.) OF/P Harford CC
Sean Sullivan (So.) OF IMG Academy (FL)
Cole Wykoff (So.) C

2019 Committed Players

None at this time.

2019 Season Snapshot

Montgomery College will field one of the older teams in the Maryland JUCO Conference in 2019 with seven returning starters and two returning arms. It's a big season for 14th year head coach Dan Rascher and his Raptors as they move up to DII in NJCAA Region XX. At the DIII level, Rascher guided the Raptors to three Region XX Championships and World Series appearances in 2013, 2015, and 2016. The move to DII means that they will now have to battle it out with 10 other Maryland JUCO programs for one of the eight coveted spots in the Region XX tournament. Three teams in 2019 at the DII level will not qualify for the Regional Tournament at the end of the season so their returning experience should give them an advantage entering this season.

Back from 2018's Maryland JUCO Conference 4th Place finish and NJCAA DIII Region XX Runner-up team are: INF Will Burgess, INF Ryo Fabre, C Teddy Grass, INF Josh Sherman, INF Payton Shubert, OF Sean Sullivan, and red-shirt C Cole Wykoff. These seven will look to fill the holes left in the lineup from 2018 All-Region XX DIII Tournament Team members Austin Grass, Harold Marte, and Darren Prebble. Montgomery also loses some fire power on the mound as both All-Region XX DIII First-Team selections Clayton Dwyer and Michael Hovermill have moved on. Look for sophomore RHP Matt Dow, and sophomore LHP Bill Swanstrom to anchor the staff alongside key freshman arms Zeke Gongola, and AJ Javitt.

The Raptors are perennially one of the top programs in the Maryland JUCO Conference and their move up to DII shouldn't matter much for expectations. Expect to see Montgomery towards the top of the Conference standings again throughout the season and in the mix for one of the top seeds in the Region XX DII Tournament.