Maryland JUCO Team Preview: Harford CC

February 8, 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 Harford CC Fighting Owls.

HARFORD CC 2019 SEASON PREVIEW

Head Coach: RJ Heinlen (1st Season)
Mascot: Fighting Owls
2018 Record: 47-14
2018 MD JUCO Finish: 2nd Place
2018 D1 Region XX Finish: 1st Place
2018 D1 District Tournament Finish: 4th Place
Twitter Handle: @HCC_OwlBaseball
CLICK HERE to view the Harford CC Baseball Website
CLICK HERE to view the Harford CC 2019 Baseball Schedule
CLICK HERE to view the Harford CC 2019 Baseball Roster

2019 PBR JUCO NATIONAL PRESEASON RANK: #22

Returning Players with 2018 Postseason Honors

Spencer Smith: MD JUCO All Conference - First Team / NJCAA All Region XX DI - First Team

Returning Starters: 3

PLAYER	POS	GP	AVG	OBP	SLG	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Spencer Smith	C	55	.319	.472	.779	69	52	14	2	19	69	12
Lou Testa	OF/1B	50	.274	.403	.658	30	32	9	0	12	48	5
Jake Wyandt	C	30	.208	.462	.358	22	11	2	0	2	14	11

Returning Pitchers: 2

PLAYER	POS	APP	W	L	S	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA
Braeden Fausnaught	LHP	10	6	0	0	28.1	29	15	13	16	34	4.13
Mike Taylor	LHP	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Key Losses

PLAYER	POS	GP	AVG	OBP	SLG	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB
Colin Adams	C	32	.333	.443	.611	21	24	5	0	5	20	6
Ryan Calhoun	INF	60	.333	.491	.696	60	56	11	1	16	80	9
Nick D'Amore	INF	55	.345	.476	.624	59	57	22	0	8	63	23
Michael Richardson	INF	51	.357	.456	.542	57	60	15	2	4	40	25
Nick Rowland	OF	55	.310	.516	.552	79	45	16	2	5	37	44
Joey Schwartz	INF	53	.377	.495	.870	66	58	20	1	18	63	12
Joseph Sibeto	C	21	.366	.571	.780	16	15	3	1	4	21	5
PLAYER	POS	APP	W	L	S	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA
Frankie Fraschetti	RHP	6	3	2	0	24.1	22	19	9	15	19	3.33
Justin Fox	RHP	22	0	2	6	25.1	19	11	8	11	30	2.84
Zach Guth	LHP	11	10	0	0	49.0	22	19	14	39	65	2.57
David Moore	LHP	18	1	2	0	31.0	21	28	18	30	54	5.23
Trevor Sprinkle	RHP	11	5	2	0	43.0	46	37	30	25	59	6.28
Truman Thomas	RHP	14	6	2	0	60.1	60	41	29	29	76	4.33
Nick Turnbull	RHP	9	4	0	0	26.0	27	12	11	17	29	3.81

Colin Adams (LIU Brooklyn)
Ryan Calhoun (St. Louis University)
Nick D'Amore (Georgia Southern University)
Frankie Fraschetti (University of Maryland - Baltimore County)
Justin Fox (North Carolina A&T)
Zach Guth (Atlanta Braves - 26th Round)
David Moore (University of Pittsburgh)
Michael Richardson (Ohio University)
Nick Rowland (College of Charleston)
Joey Schwartz (Western Kentucky University)
Truman Thomas (University of Memphis)
Nick Turnbull (University of Maryland)

Top Newcomers

Ted Blumanuer LHP Gonzaga College (MD) / Virginia Commonwealth University
Reyce Curnane 1B/OF Downingtown West (PA) / Boston College
Spencer Harbert OF/INF Middletown (DE) / University of Kentucky
Mitchell Hoon RHP Cumberland Valley (PA) / George Washington University
Blake James RHP Atholton (MD) / LaSalle University
Billy Krahl RHP Holy Spirit (NJ) / Hofstra University
John Torres LHP Don Bosco Prep (NY) / University of Cincinnati

Key Players for 2019

Spencer Harbert (R-Fr.) OF/INF Middletown (DE)
Marty Neal (Fr.) RHP Gar-Field Senior (VA)
Matt Shilling (So.) SS Wissahickon (PA)
Jordyn Smith (So.) 1B Hun School of Princeton (NJ)
Spencer Smith (So.) C Northern Durham (NC)
Lou Testa (So.) OF Neumann-Goretti (NJ)

2019 Committed Players

Nolan Charlton (University of Maryland - Baltimore County)
Darius Hunter (Grambling State University)

2019 Season Snapshot

On January 28, 2019 twelve year head coach Tom Eller announced that he would be stepping down from his position at Harford CC to begin a career in pro baseball as a minor league hitting coach for the hometown Baltimore Orioles. News carried fast and many were shocked to hear of his decision. Eller won his 400th game in 2018 and built Harford CC into one of the premier powerhouses in the country at the NJCAA DI level. The four-time Maryland JUCO Conference Coach of the Year won 5 NJCAA Region XX titles and made it to Grand Junction, CO for the NJCAA DI World Series in 2016. Taking over the reins for the 2019 season with Eller gone will be RJ Heinlen. Heinlen, a former pitcher for the Fighting Owls during his playing days coached with Eller for the past three seasons and served as the Fighting Owl's pitching coach.

Two years removed from that trip to Grand Junction, Harford enters the 2019 season with 11 players from last year's team having moved on to four-year colleges / universities and without their ace that went 10-0 on the mound for them last year in LHP Zach Guth (drafted in the 26th round and signed with the Atlanta Braves). It's become the norm at Harford lately with all their success to have a lot of roster turnover from year to year so it doesn't come as a surprise and this years team looks to rival those of years past. Back for the Fighting Owls in the line-up are big boppers Spencer Smith and Lou Testa whom combined to hit 31 jacks and drive in an astounding 117 runners last season. Add to the lineup sophomores Matt Shilling, Jordyn Smith, Nolan Charlton, Boston College transfer 1B/OF Reyce Curnane, and University of Kentucky transfer OF/INF Spencer Harbert and it doesn't seem as there are any signs of the offense slowing down.

Harford loses their top three starters and closer from last year amongst others but looks to have re-loaded on the mound as well with incoming freshman RHP Marty Neal and five NCAA Division I transfers. Those transfer arms include LHP Ted Blumanuer (VCU), RHP Mitchell Hoon (George Washington), RHP Blake James (LaSalle), RHP Billy Krahl (Hofstra), and LHP John Torres (Cincinnati). Even with Eller gone and several new faces, the 2019 Harford CC Fighting Owls look poised to contend for yet another Maryland JUCO Conference title, Region XX, and Eastern District Championship.