Makenna Dean, Archbishop Spalding, softball Zach Gaynor, Reservoir, baseball

In leading Spalding to the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference title last year, ace Amaya Carroll earned her spot on the All-Metro team with 16 wins and 215 strikeouts in 107 innings.

Dean has handled the brunt of the work in the circle this year — posting a 10-2 mark with a 1.06 ERA — as the Cavaliers prepare to defend their title. The junior, who keeps batters guessing with a changeup that consistently finds the strike zone, credits the support around her.

“Last year, Amaya did really well and I would say this year, it’s been more of a team effort,” Dean said. “There’s been times when I’ve done well pitching, but I have a great catcher helping me and a great defense backing me up. We’re good on defense, amazing on offense, so just strong all-around.”

Catcher is one of the most important and demanding positions in baseball and the Gators were blessed to have a sensational one in Ben Davis the previous four years.

When his expected replacement decided not to join the team this year, coach Adam Leader was in a bind.

So Leader considered: Who knows the game exceptionally well, is an experienced leader and is an athlete with a big arm?

The answer turned out to be a few feet away in third baseman Zach Gaynor.

“[Coach] Leader brings me over and asks, ‘Do you want to catch?’ I really didn’t think about it, I just said yes because I knew we needed one,” said Gaynor, a three-year varsity player. “Ben Davis was a huge part of our team and he was the guy I looked up to all through high school. He was a role model, and being able to fill his shoes was very important to the team and I knew it had to be done to help the team.”

Gaynor has proved to be a quick study, from learning to quickly put on gear to blocking and framing pitches to knowing when to walk out to calm down pitchers. Assistant coaches Danny O’Hagan, who was the catcher on Reservoir’s state championship team in 2014, and Zack Nunn were instrumental in helping bring Gaynor up to speed behind the plate.

Adjusting to a new position defensively didn’t hinder his offensive production. With the Gators 11-7 entering the region playoffs, Gaynor is batting .453 with five doubles, three triples, 17 RBIs and 24 runs.

“He put the team first, he was like, ‘I love my guys and I’ll do whatever it takes for us to do well.’ And I really think he’s one of the