‘It feels unreal’
Former Gilman, Maryland standout Costes signs as an undrafted free agent
Maxwell Costes remembers being a little kid and sitting in his mom’s lap with his dad and older brother by his side as they watched the Orioles play at Camden Yards. He remembers being part of the team’s junior fan club and thinking he was in the coolest ballpark in the world.
On Wednesday night, the former Maryland and Gilman star’s baseball journey came full circle when he signed with the Orioles as an undrafted free agent.
For Costes, who grew up in the upper east side of Baltimore City, you couldn’t write a better story.
“I used to always be [at Camden Yards] and be like, ‘I’m gonna be like them one day,’ ” he said. “There are no real words to describe what it means to live your dream.”
Costes was a standout first baseman during his four years at Maryland, batting .298 with 40 home runs and 145 RBIs. After hitting .310 as a junior, Costes batted .296 with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs as a senior to earn third-team All-Big Ten Conference honors.
He played a huge role in Maryland’s historic 2022 season, helping the Terps set a program record for wins (48) and host an NCAA Tournament regional in College Park for the first time.
Costes burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2019, slashing .266/.397/.547 with 15 home runs, 15 doubles and 49 RBIs. He started in all 58 games that season and was named first-team All-Big Ten.
At Gilman, Costes was named firstteam All-Metro by The Baltimore Sun in 2018 after hitting .392 with six home runs and 21 RBIs while racking up seven saves on the mound.
“I went to Gilman, played four years at the state’s flagship school and get to stay home and play for [the Orioles],” he said. “You can’t really write stories better than this. It feels unreal.”
Costes could one day join his brother in the big leagues, too. Marty Costes, a former star at Archbishop Curley who spent three seasons at Maryland, currently plays for the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys after being drafted in the 22nd round by the Houston Astros in 2018.
The record-setting Terps also had three players drafted earlier this week in junior left-handed pitcher Ryan Ramsey, junior outfielder Troy Schreffler Jr. and fifth-year senior outfielder Chris “Bubba” Alleyne.
Ramsey, who threw the second perfect game in Maryland history in April, was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th round. Schreffler was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 15th round after slashing .340/.421/.557 in 2022. Alleyne, the Big Ten Player of the Year, was picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 19th round after becoming the first Division I player since 2018 to record at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season.
MASNSports.com was first to report Costes’ signing.