Settling in
Local underclassmen take part in MSABC showcase game
BOWIE — By the time he finally got into Tuesday afternoon’s Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches Fantastic Frosh Super Soph Showcase at Prince George’s Stadium, rising La Plata sophomore Ryan Calvert had been sitting in the third-base dugout for quite a while.
“It was hard getting loose since I sat the first seven [innings] and pitched the eighth and ninth,” said Calvert, who pitched for the South team in the game. “But when I got out there it all came back to me.”
Exactly how long it took Calvert to get comfortable may have been debated by the opposing batters from the East team, as the La Plata
pitcher struck out the first five batters he faced in working two scoreless, hitless innings to finish out the game. He also earned the win, as the South scored the winning run on an RBI single by rising Leonardtown sophomore Matt Bobrowski in the top of the ninth to snare a 10-9 decision.
Batting in the No. 3 slot in the South team’s lineup, Bobrowski enjoyed a stellar day at the plate. The Leonardtown infielder went 4 for 4 with two runs scored, four RBIs and a pair of stolen bases.
“I felt good out there. This was a fun experience,” he said. “Coming into this I was just like, ‘Let’s go out and play baseball.’ I had some nice hits. It was a fun day.”
The South team jumped out to an 7-0 lead by the middle of the fourth, but its East counterparts stormed back to eventually surge to a 9-8 lead at the end of seven. But the South scored runs in the eighth and ninth to leave the field with bragging rights.
“It was a lot of fun playing with all the best freshmen and sophomores
in the state as they come together,” said Bryce Leslie, a rising junior at Northern. “It was a lot of fun out there and a learning experience for me, for sure.”
Bobrowski got things started in the top of the first when he singled with two outs and later scooted across the plate with the game’s first run on Josh Olsufka’s tworun hit.
The South led 2-0 until the top of the fourth when it exploded for five more runs. Rising Huntingtown sophomore Cy Harwood walked and scored in the inning, while Bobrowski delivered a two-run single and later scored on Olsufka’s triple.
The East squad finally cracked the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the South answered right back with a run in the top of the sixth. Bobrowski again factored in when he beat out an infield single with two outs to push Daniel Elliott across the plate to extend the South’s lead to 8-1.
But the lead evaporated over the next couple of innings, as the East scored five runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to jump ahead by a run. In the top of the eighth, Gadot Gaskins drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a single by
Nick Burch, a rising junior at Leonardtown, before scoring the tying run on a groundout.
An inning later, Bobrowski singled home Ryan Looper with two outs to put the South team ahead to stay.
Calvert, who had struck out the side in his first inning of work in the eighth, then sealed the win for the South with only a twoout
error marring what would have been a perfect two-inning performance.
“It’s a good time to play with all the best kids in the state,” Calvert said, “having fun out there playing the game we love.”
Rising Huntingtown junior Ryan Terrents also logged an inning on the mound for the South, striking out one. Rising Northern junior Marcus Lee
those fishing with cut alewife on the bottom.
“Ecstatic” is an understatement when it comes to how to the guides at Life Outdoors Unlimited are feeling now that the closure areas are opened up to bass fishing.
Aggressive fish are delivering absolutely jolting strikes to topwaters, spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, and LOU guide Jason Shay (717507-4377) said they “all but ripped the rod” out of his hand on his most recent fishing trip.
Weekends at the lake can be busy boat and jet-ski traffic days, but during the week anglers can find lots of willing bass near floating docks. Minnows will catch yellow perch and walleye holding near deep grass edges. And, for the kids, bluegill, bass and walleye will take a bit of nightcrawler or a cricket under a bobber. Sang was also in uniform for the South squad, but did not pitch in the game.
For Bobrowski, being able to play on the same side as some of his rivals from the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference made for an enjoyable day.
“I played against some of these dudes. They’re pretty good, too. It’s fun playing with them,” he said. “I can get on their
some slip bobbers and head for a bridge like Stubbs or Holladay Mill and fish from 7 to 9 a.m. for your limit.
The SCCA fleet reports that spot are beginning to show up in better numbers in our area this week. Drum Point and Second Beach by Little Cove Point are good places to fish. Rockfish are cooperating at the LNG facility and near Cedar Point.
The first white marlin of the season was caught last Saturday, according to Larry Jock of the Coastal Fisherman. Dave Taylor of West Ocean City hooked it on a ballyhoo with a pink skirt in 70 fathoms on the north end of the Poor Man’s Canyon.
Anglers are finding keeper flounder just about everywhere, in the West Channel, at the Old Grounds and from the 2nd Street bulkhead. There are decent numbers of red drum in the bay.
Tip of the week
chops if we beat them. They get on mine if we lost to them during the season.”
Several SMAC players were selected to play in Wednesday’s MSABC Futures game, as well. Rising Patuxent seniors Sayo Kintunde, Mason Calvert and Tanner Zinn were all listed on the South roster for the game, as was rising Chopticon junior Charles Burroughs.