Severna Park senior pitcher Dylan Taylor became only the second player in school history to have his number retired Wednesday night at the Falcons' Spring Banquet.

Taylor went 9-0 this season and pitched the Falcons to the Class 4A state championship and a No. 2 ranking in The Baltimore Sun's final baseball poll of the season.

Taylor's No. 17 joins the No. 5 of Chris Crum, Severna Park's storied two-way player who was the No. 3 hitter and No. 1 pitcher for the Falcons' 2003 and 2005 3A state championship teams and never lost a game.

Coach Jim McCandless said that while Taylor will be away at college next spring, there will be a special ceremony to formally retire No. 17 and hang it and No. 5 on the team's outfield fence.

"It doesn't happen very often," McCandless said. "Dylan deserves this honor. Both these young men are pretty special."

McCandless said Taylor overcame adversity as a sophomore when he "got caught up in the realization that he was playing on the varsity team. He got kind of in shock that he was getting that experience as a sophomore and he struggled with his control.

"But he handled that by working harder on his fundamentals and his mental makeup until this year he believed, like we did, that he could be the most dominating pitcher in Maryland."

Taylor also has been selected for the Gieco Financial Brooks Robinson Senior All-Star Game at Camden Yards on Sunday, June 14. The top seniors in Maryland will play at approximately 4 p.m., immediately following that day's Orioles game.

The North and South teams will be composed of public and private school players.