Maryland Power 25 Countdown: #16 Severna Park

February 27, 2020
Kyle Campbell
Maryland Scouting Director

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It's hard to believe but the start of the 2020 Maryland high school baseball season is just two weeks away. Every week throughout the season we will release our Power 25, ranking the top twenty-five teams from across the Old Line State. Today we continue our Preseason Power 25 countdown by taking a look at our #16 team, the Severna Park Falcons from Anne Arundel County. We will release one team in our countdown each weekday leading up to the release of our 2020 #1 Preseason Power 25 team on March 19th. Then, on March 20th our PBR Maryland staff will release it's final preseason predictions for the upcoming 2020 season as team get ready to square off on opening day later that afternoon.

Severna Park Falcons 2020 SEASON PREVIEW

Head Coach: Eric Milton
Mascot: Falcons
County: Anne Arundel
MPSSAA Classification: 4A East Region II
2019 Record: 16-5
2019 MPSSAA Playoff Run: Lost in the MPSSAA 4A East
Sectional Finals to Old Mill (7-2).
CLICK HERE to view the Severna Park Baseball Website
CLICK HERE to view the Severna Park Schedule

2020 PBR MD POWER 25 PRESEASON RANK: #16

Returning Starters: 5

Andrew Bashor (So.) C
Corey Bodnar (Sr.) OF
Evan Lewis (Sr.) RHP/1B
Jackson Merrill (Jr.) SS
Brendan Simonds (Sr.) 1B/LHP

Returning Pitchers: 3

Wesley Adams (Sr.) RHP
Evan Lewis (Sr.) RHP
Brendan Simonds (Sr.) LHP

Returning Players with Post-Season / Pre-Season Honors

Evan Lewis - 2020 MSABC Preseason All-State Team / 2019 PBR Maryland Preseason All-State
Jackson Merrill - 2020 MSABC Preseason All-State Team / 2019 PBR Maryland All-State Underclass

Key Losses

Camden Handwerger (OF)
Jordan Hallet (OF)
Josh Horgan (3B)
Mark Sasse (C)

Top Newcomers

Daniel Parkinson (Jr.) RHP
Robert Weaver (Jr.) OF

2020 Key Players

Andrew Bashor (So.) C
Evan Lewis (Sr.) RHP
Jackson Merrill (Jr.) SS
Brendan Simonds (Sr.) 1B/LHP

Players Signed / Committed to College

Jackson Merrill (2021) - Army
Evan Lewis (2020) - Louisiana Tech University
Brendan Simonds (2020) - Belmont Abbey College

Season Snapshot

After two straight appearances in the State Semifinals (2017) and State Championship (2018), Severna Park's playoff run came to an abrupt end last season in the 4A East Sectional Finals. The #1 seeded Falcons were upset by eventual 2019 State Champion Old Mill 7-2 at home in that game.

This year's squad looks poised to compete for yet another 4A State Championship with some very talented key pieces returning both on the mound and at the plate. Senior RHP and Louisiana Tech commit Evan Lewis returns as the team's ace and will be joined by fellow seniors Brendan Simonds (Belmont Abbey), and Wesley Adams. Junior RHP Daniel Parkinson and budding sophomore two-way star Colton Adams also figure to make an impact on the staff in 2020 as well.

Offensively, the Falcons will be led by Army commit Jackson Merrill, Corey Bodnar, and Simonds. Head coach Eric Milton will need to find some younger guys to step up with Camden Handwerger, Jordan Hallet, Josh Horgan, and Mark Sasse's production gone. Sophomore Andrew Bashor and Lewis will get opportunities to make a difference at the plate with top newcomer Robert Weaver, Adams, and Ben Litkowski figuring to also play key roles as the season rolls along.

The new regional alignments shook up the 4A East Region quite a bit with Severna Park switching to Region II where they will be joined by Annapolis, Broadneck, South River, and Leonardtown from St. Mary's County. The Falcons will get a look at three of those four potential playoff opponents during the regular season in Anne Arundel County league play.