St. John's (DC) returned from the Westminster Baseball tournament in Ft. Lauderdale Florida with a 3-1 record. They lost a close opener 3-2 against 1A #2 ranked Florida powerhouse Brito, but sailed the rest of the way, outscoring their final three opponents (Miami Christian, Xaverian NY, and Kellam VA) 35-8.
On 04/17, Calvert Hall and St. John's will battle in Baltimore, putting their national rankings on the line.
With that said, it's unfortunate that MoCo and other county schools in MD aren't allowed to participate in cross league play with the private schools during the regular season. In Florida all HS athletic programs, public and private, adhere and are regulated by one organization (www.fhsaa.org) and schedules are based on size and location, not affiliation, thus all the schools, private and public compete against each other throughout the season. No doubt there are public schools in our area that could run with the best private schools, thus getting the same or equal credit they deserve, plus it would make for some great baseball and rivalry (imho).
Posts: 110 | Location: Montgomery County, Maryland | Registered: March 06, 2004
While appealing on the surface, I don't know that grouping public and private schools would work. I think the private schools would have an advantage in that they are able to "recruit" players to their program which un-levels the playing field.
But it certainly is a lot of fun to watch powerhouse private schools play traditionally strong public school squads. Certainly many "dream match ups" can come to mind...
Arudel vs Calvert Hall Mt. St. Joe's vs Riverdale Quince Orchard vs. St. John's Severna Park vs DeMatha
And so on. Any one of those combinations would make for some exciting games. And I certainly don't intend to slight anyone that I didn't mention.
Posts: 140 | Location: Walkersville, Maryland, USA | Registered: March 17, 2004
Westminster holds three spring tourneys; National Classic (that's the big one), Baseball Fever One and Two. SLC participated in BF II. Big 5-6A Palmetto defeated Brito to win it.
Unfortunately, I don't know who won the Classic this year, however, it wasn't Westminster. They haven't updated the Westminster site to reflect the winner yet.
One bit of interesting news to add; Coach Hofman resigned amid some controversy. He's probably the most famous high school baseball coach in history, and ARod is always singing his praises.
Posts: 110 | Location: Montgomery County, Maryland | Registered: March 06, 2004
I had heard about all the controversy, and thought he had resigned. It is good, but tough place to coach because he gets the local high school coaches on him about recruiting their seniors, at the same time the parents of kids coming up the ranks feel they get short changed.
With a school being so successful it is a tough, but nice position to be in. Unfortunately, something must have ran a muck.
You're correct. When you choose to send your child to a school that recruits and has a successful program because of it, you're taking a risk. If he's the best of the best (and the coach recognizes it), then you'll be happy, however, if he's not in the top 9, then you'll have to endure a season of him building character on the bench. Typically, programs like that; all the players are top-notch, but the coach can only start 9. Someone used the Dematha basketball analogy once...when even the team water boys (managers) got full rides to play ball in college! That's the mark of a good program...
I don't know where or if Hofman has landed. Maybe it will be in the college ranks this time.
BTW, Calvert Hall defeated St. John's 6-5. I was not able to atttend the game, so maybe you can give us a recap if you were able to be there.
Peace...
Posts: 110 | Location: Montgomery County, Maryland | Registered: March 06, 2004
