All Star Baseball Academy of West Chester, Pa., is hosting a top-rated Fall Showcase Event at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Oct. 16-17. College coaches and recruiting coordinators from six area colleges will run the Showcase event, with James Madison, William and Mary, UNC-Wilmington, Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond, and VMI all represented.

This Showcase is for serious baseball players, ages 15 to 18, who hope to develop their skills and play college baseball for Division I to III programs.

Area players are invited to register at www.allstarbaseballacademy.com. Players are also invited to call the All Star staff at 610-399-9356 for information and full details on the Showcase Cost of the comprehensive, two-day event is $350 per player.

"This is a super way to get better and get noticed, too," noted Ken Leidheiser of All Star Baseball. "This makes a great opportunity for area players to get visibility and exposure to multiple programs, all at one convenient location.

"Also, Regency Furniture Stadium was just named 2010 Ballpark of the Year by the DigitalBallparks.com rating service and it is truly a great stadium," noted Leidheiser. "The Blue Crabs play in the Atlantic League on this field and our Showcase players will enjoy the same top-quality facilities during our 2-day event."

Posted by Sandra McKee at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Loyola outfielder A.J. Lardo visited Maryland nine months ago and then watched about 10 of his friends sign with the Terps while he went off to look at Harvard, Dartmouth and Columbia.

But Sunday night, Lardo a near-6-foot left fielder who bats and pitches right-handed and led the state in stolen bases last season with 34, gave his word to Maryland coach Eric Bakich that he will be a Terp after he graduates from Loyola next Spring.

"Maryland was the first school I visited, and Coach Bakich was so enthusiastic," Lardo said. "He was hired to take Maryland's baseball program from the middle of the pack to the top of the ACC. It stuck in my mind. Maryland is an hour from home; it plays in the ACC, the best baseball conference in the country; and his philosophy is to recruit hard in Maryland.

"After visiting the Ivy League schools, at the end of the day, it just seemed like Maryland was the best fit for me."

It wasn't just baseball that drew Lardo. The Loyola senior has worked hard to maintain a 3.9 or 4.0 grade-point average each semester because he wants to pursue his education in business, engineering or a science, like biology.

"I study a lot," he said. "Academics are important to me. One of my friends signed, K.J. Hockaday from John Carroll. I grew up playing my whole life with him. He committed a year ago to Maryland, but I wanted to make sure it was right for me. ... After visiting the Ivys, I wasn't sure I was ready for the Ivy League. They're further from home, and they don't have the same vibe. I don't think I'm that type of person. Maryland is more laid-back."

Lardo said he will spend this year working on his arm strength and batting eye. While he hit about .430 last season, he said a lot of his hits came on his ability to beat out throws for infield hits.

"I've been striking out a lot, and I need to stop chasing bad pitches," he said. "But my speed is really important both in getting on base and stealing bases."

Besides Hockaday, Lardo will be joining Bobby Ruse of C. Milton Wright, Shane Campbell of Kenwood, Will Bouey of Sherwood, and Corey Britton of Atholton at Maryland.

The actual signing of commitment papers will be in November. Lardo could change his mind, but he says it is very unlikely.

"You're locked in unless you want a bad reputation," he said. "I gave my word, and I'm really excited. It's been a really stressful year, looking at the schools, making sure I chose the one that would be right for me academically and athletically.

"I can get a good education at Maryland, and I'm eager to help Coach Bakich build the program. I'm ready to go now; Ready to earn a starting position."

Posted by Sandra McKee at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baseball
        

The Baltimore Catholic League, one of the premier high school boys basketball leagues in the country, has announced the addition of two new member schools, bringing the league back up to eight teams.

John Carroll, which also competes in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference with fellow BCL members Archbishop Spalding, Calvert Hall, Loyola, Mount St. Joseph and St. Frances, will join the league this coming season.

Mount Carmel, currently a member of the MIAA B Conference, will compete in the BCL Tournament at the end of this season and then plans to move to the MIAA A Conference in the 2011-12 season and become a full-time BCL member then as well.

The past two years, the BCL has lost two of its most storied programs when Towson Catholic and Cardinal Gibbons closed its doors.

“We welcome the additions of John Carroll and Mount Carmel to our league and I’m happy to get us back to eight teams – that’s a good number for the league,” said BCL commissioner Jack Degele. “In these two new coaches – Tony Martin at John Carroll and Tom Rose at Mount Carmel – you have two guys that are very passionate about basketball and understand what it means to be in this league, so they’ll do a great job competing in the league.”

The BCL met with the heads of schools and their respective athletic directors in July and also decided on discontinuing playing any regularly scheduled games on Sundays. There will still be two postseason tournaments. The BCL Tournament will continue to take place after the MIAA A Conference championships.

In celebrating its 40th year, the BCL will introduce a Hall of Fame this coming season.

Posted by Glenn Graham at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Boys basketball
        

USA Field Hockey has announced the 2010-2011 Futures Elite team and seven Maryland players have been selected from those who compete in the Under-14, 16 and 19 age groups from across the country.

Christina Conrad from Fallston, Christine Galligan from Archbishop Spalding, Danielle King from C. Milton Wright and Alyssa Parker from Glenelg were the local picks. Dana Allaband, Rising Sun, Anna McQuaid, Sts. Peters and Paul and Taylor West from Pocomoke round out the Maryland selections.

The Futures Elite players are identified and selected based on their performance at each year's National Futures Championships or the AAU Junior Olympics and represent the best high school field hockey athletes in the country.

Being a member of the Elite group allows each player to try out for the team that will compete in the June 2011 Junior Women's National Championship.

Posted by Sandra McKee at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Field hockey
        

Former Mount Hebron girls lacrosse coach Brooke Kuhl-McClelland has taken over at St. Paul's, aiming to rejuvenate a program that has had five coaches in 10 years and finished 9-9 last season.

Kuhl-McClelland, who had a 152-15 record with the Vikings, guided them to six state championships and five national No. 1 rankings in nine years. She left after last season for a variety of reasons.

"When I left Hebron, it wasn't with the intention to get out of coaching. It was just for a change," said Kuhl-McClelland, who is a dance teacher at Hammond and was the county's Teacher of the Year in 2006-07.

When Kuhl-McClelland heard that Gators coach Monica Yeakel had resigned, she called about the position immediately. She was officially hired last week, bringing along her coaching staff from Mount Hebron -- husband Tommy McClelland and Kelly Murphy.

"It is a whole new world, but it's an exciting one. I loved every minute that I had at Hebron. There were always some challenges there as far as the pressure. That's what people are saying, 'You jumped right out of the frying pan back into the fire.' I didn't want to take a program that was in disarray. We had a few other opportunities and offers ... but I'm not sure at this point in my life, I'm ready to start a new program. I wanted something that was fairly established."

The Gators won A Conference titles in 2004 and 2006, but have been slightly off the pace ever since.

St. Paul's athletic director Jim Stromberg said Kuhl-McClelland and her coaching staff have the background to boost the Gators back toward the top.

"They've already done it and they know how to do it," Stromberg said. "We're really fortunate to have them coming here and I think our kids and our families will figure that out early. One thing about her that we like is she loves a challenge and I don't think you're going to be more challenged than being in this league."

Over the years, the Vikings have played Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference teams, but seeing that kind of competition every day will be a new challenge for Kuhl-McClelland, named the Coach of the Decade earlier this year by TopoftheCircle.com.

"At Mount Hebron we were lucky enough to play two IAAM teams in a season and now you're facing an entire league's worth of that. It is a huge challenge and, of course, I still subscribe to the fact that lacrosse is evolving and getting bigger, faster, stronger girls every single year, so the IAAM is getting better and better. I'm excited about the challenge of getting that kind of competition on a daily basis."

She also will square off for the first time against McDonogh coach Chris Robinson, whose IAAM championship team went undefeated and No. 1 in the spring. Kuhl-MClelland was Robinson's assistant at Mount Hebron and she assumed the head coaching spot in 2002 the year after he left. They made a deal at the time that their teams would never play an official game.

"Facing Chris will be very difficult. We've never really faced off against each other in a real
competition. We've only done it as a scrimmage. In the early years, Mount Hebron would beat McDonogh. In the later years, we could barely stay with McDonogh. It's going to be interesting."

Another draw for McClelland is that the St. Paul's campus is just a seven-minute drive from her home. Chances are she will spend that extra time on lacrosse.

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Girls lacrosse
        

This report comes St. Frances baseball coach Brian Boles.

After an MIAA C Conference championship in 2009 and an MIAA B Conference playoff run in 2010, five St. Frances baseball players will be moving on to play college ball.

Pitcher Jamil Dorsey, the class valedictorian, will be attending Virginia State University on a scholarship. He will major in mathematics.

Pitcher/catcher Devan Hill and second baseman Avon Coleman will be attending Baltimore City Community College on baseball scholarships. The BCCC baseball program is being directed and coached by Daryl Smith, a former Major League Baseball player.

Infielder Darrell “Boom” Anderson, will be attending the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the fall and will redshirt his freshman year. Anderson battled injuries all year but still managed to set the state record for career hits (138), breaking the record of 131 hits set by Jason Maxey of Hammond.

First baseman Kris Dixon will be attending Thiel College in Pennsylvania and plans to walk-on to the baseball team.

“I’m very proud of all these guys and it’s a great feeling knowing they will continue their academic and athlete careers at the collegiate level," Boles said. "I feel like we underachieved somewhat this past season and it was tough, with injuries and other issues. But, seeing these guys move on to matriculate on the collegiate level is what it’s all about. This was a very special group of young men and I’m going to miss them.”

Posted by Sandra McKee at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Dan McManus is used to the build up to high school football season, so he's ready for Saturday's first day of fall practice.

By now, working out all summer long and getting back on the practice field in mid-
August is old hat for the Eastern Tech senior. He knows he's ready and he is confident that his teammates are too, because the Mavericks have a lot to live up to after winning the state Class 2A crown last season, the school's first football title.

"I'm just looking forward to getting started, seeing who's going to fill in the spots and who's going to step up," said McManus, an All-Metro defensive tackle who had 92 tackles and 11 sacks last season.

The Mavericks are one of two local teams who take the field, on Saturday's first day of practice for public school football teams, looking to defend a state title come December. Old Mill took the Class 4A title a year ago, also the first football title in its school history.

For the Mavericks and coach Marc Mesaros, the All-Metro Coach of the Year, their title was particularly rewarding because they had been to the final the two previous years and lost. Now, they're not only used to being there, they know how to win and that's what McManus said the Mavericks aim for again this season.

"Basically, we just have a higher standard to live up to now," he said. "It would be a senior dream [to repeat as champs]. If you keep building and keep up the enthusiasm, it's all about coaching and hard work."

McManus wants to boost his game and knows he will have to be more of a leader now as a senior, so he spent the summer at camps and combines to improve his skills. He drew attention from several college programs, including Bucknell, which like the aspiring engineer's combination of a strong game and a 3.8 grade-point average.

As most football teams do, the Mavericks had a big turnover, graduating 22 players. McManus is used to that.

"Every year, we've graduated the whole offense, the whole defense except for two or three players, so the coach gets everything he can out of the players. Just rebuild, build a lot of strong players over the summer."

Some of those likely to be keys this fall along with McManus? He named Marquiese Bannister, Josh Cannella, Brad Hager, Mike Wright, Devon White and Brandon Jones..

The Mavericks won't rest on their laurels. They're just eager to get going.

"We don't really look back. We just keep moving forward," McManus said. "We're ready. We're used to practicing every week during the summer. First game is always a little nervous, but I'm used to it."

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Football
        

Five Baltimore area high school players were among 24 women chosen to the United States training team for the 2011 Federation of International Lacrosse Under-19 Women’s World Championships in Hannover, Germany next August.

Notre Dame Prep’s Covie Stanwick, McDonogh’s Jen Cook, C. Milton Wright’s Alyssa Blevins, St. Mary’s Dani Lazo and Winters Mill’s Erin McMunn were named to the team, which will be whittled down to 18 next spring. More than 165 girls from 25 states tried out before the training team selections were finalized Wednesday morning by head coach Krystin Porcella, also head coach at John Carroll.

“I was shocked at first,” McMunn said of seeing her number on the final roster Wednesday morning. “I thought I was going to get cut for sure someplace along the line. It was so cool to see your number, because so many incredible girls showed up and everyone worked so hard. I’m just so excited.”

Tryouts were conducted Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at UMBC with most girls cut by 8 a.m. Wednesday and the training team trimmed to 24 about three hours later. Monday and Tuesday’s sessions amounted to about seven or eight hours of playing time each, said Cook.

“It was the toughest two and a half days I’ve had mentally and physically,” she said. “It was really tiring playing that much lacrosse every day for two or three straight. I was really sore and it was tough mentally with all the selectors watching. You always have to be on your game. It was really difficult but at the same time, it was a really good experience to get through something as tough as that.”

Stanwick, a first-team All-Metro selection last spring, said she gets goose bumps at the thought of playing in the world championships.

“Today when we had a team meeting, just thinking about it gives you a chill, thinking about how cool it would be to put on a uniform that says USA across your chest. It would be so cool to be able to represent your county,” said Stanwick, whose sister Coco played on the 2003 world champion Under-19 team and whose brother Steele made the boys 2008 team but could not play after an injury.

Stanwick said ever since watching her sister play, it has been her goal to make the U-19 team.

While Stanwick and Cook are close friends -- despite Cook's McDonogh team winning the IAAM A Conference championship for the second straight year over Stanwick's NDP team -- McMunn said she didn't know anyone on the team really well although she has played with or against some of the players. She expects that to change pretty quickly.

Although the team won't get together again until the weekend of October 9-10 at the US Lacrosse Stars and Stripes Festival in Boston, Facebook and text messaging likely will facilitate fast friendships.

"You really have to get to know everybody on the team well if you're going to play well as a unit and be successful and everyone I've met there seems really nice. I'm really excited to get to know everybody," said McMunn, who helped Winters Mill to the state Class 2A-1A title last spring.

"No matter what -- if I get cut or if I make it to Germany -- I think it's just such a great experience," Stanwick said. "Even the tryouts, meeting people who are coming from Texas and California, seeing how the game is spreading. No matter what, I just think it will be cool to get to know these girls. These are the top 24 girls in the nation so throughout college you're going to see them again."

The United States women’s U-19 team has a lot to live up to when it heads to Germany next summer. The US won its third straight world title in Canada in 2007. Their only loss was in the inaugural event in which they fell to Australia in 1995.

The full roster:
NAME HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL POS. YEAR
Alyssa Blevins Bel Air, MD C. Milton Wright D Sr.
Jennifer Cook Towson, MD McDonogh A Sr.
Dani Lazo Stevensville, MD St. Mary's M Sr.
Erin McMunn Westminster, MD Winter Mill A Sr.
Covie Stanwick Baltimore, MD Notre Dame Prep A Sr.
Caileigh Sindall Silver Spring, MD Good Counsel D Sr.
Brigid Smith Rockville, MD Good Counsel A Sr.
Anna Salemo Littleton, CO Heritage A Sr.
Madison Acton Sudbury, MA Lincoln Sudbury Regional M Jr.
Kelsey Duryea Beverly, MA Governor's Academy GK Jr.
Christine Ferguson Weston, MA St. Paul's D Sr.
Tatum Coffey Toms River, NJ Toms River North M Sr.
Sally Jentis Ridgewood, NJ Ridgewood D Sr.
Dene’ Di Martino Manorville, NY Eastport South Manor M Jr.
Cortney Fortunato Northport, NY Northport A Soph.
Shannon Gilroy Northport, NY Northport M Sr.
Barbara Sullivan Garden City, NY Garden City D Sr.
Kelly McPartland Farmingdale, NY Farmingdale M Sr.
Kayla Treanor Niskayuna, NY Niskayuna M Jr.
Sammy Jo Tracy Bedford, NY Fox Lane M Jr.
Rachel Vallarelli Hartsdale, NY Holy Child GK Jr.
Mikaela Rix Garden City, NY Garden City HS M Sr.
Allie Murry Downingtown, PA Downingtown GK Sr.
Taylor Trimble Rosemont, PA Episcopal Academy M Sr.

Posted by Katherine Dunn at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Girls lacrosse