Calvert Hall, Mount St. Joe and Archbishop Spalding still contending for top MIAA A baseball seed

by Nelson Coffin

In terms of drama, schedule-makers could not have planned a better conclusion to the MIAA A Conference regular season.

With the teams currently tied for first place, Calvert Hall and Mount St. Joseph (both 15-3), squaring off in one series and their closest pursuers, Archbishop Spalding (14-4) and John Carroll (12-6), going at it in another three-game set, the final seeds for the league's two divisional double-elimination tournaments, leading to a best-of-three championship series will be hanging on every pitch.

Last week, St. Joe sophomore Chase Nemec led off a series-opening win over McDonogh with a single, advanced to third and scored on senior Michael Goldsmith’s sacrifice fly. That same duo smacked two-run singles in the second and the Gaels were off to the races in an eventual 11-1 win.

The MSJ lineup was even more prolific in the second game of the series, a 19-6 six-inning triumph over the Eagles.

Calvert Hall kept pace with the Gaels by sweeping Gilman by a combined 32-6 score.

St. Joe can clinch first place with two wins in the series, because it holds the tie-breaker over thrid place Archbishop Spalding (14-4), which sits just one game back of the leaders. Calvert Hall may have to sweep the series to lock up first place, as Spalding has the tie-breaker over those two teams, should they finish tied in the standings.

University of Virginia commit Pierce Quinn was dominant on the mound for John Carroll in an 11-0 shutout of Archbishop Curley. The senior right-hander went 5.1 innings to record the win while extending a streak of not allowing more than one earned run in six consecutive outings.

The defending champion Patriots made it two in a row with a 7-5 win in the middle game and then blanked the Friars in the finale, 7-0.

Spalding pitchers were very sharp in the first two games against Loyola Blakefield last week, stifling the Dons, 3-0, and 13-0.

Spalding starter Ashton Taylor worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first with fine defensive help from second baseman Judah Shirlen while the Cavaliers produced four runs in the top of the inning on RBI doubles from M.J. Marll and Noah Vasey and Noah Lewis’ two-run single.

The sophomore southpaw allowed just four hits in the five-inning shutout that propelled Spalding to its sixth straight win. The Cavaliers need just one win in the series to clinch the third playoff seed, but are aiming higher. John Carroll could jump up and grab the third seed with a three game sweep.

Reigning C Conference champ Park has shown that it is hardly cowed by competing in the B this spring after knocking off Red Division-leading Severn, 5-3. The Bruins had already topped Black-leading St. Paul’s, earning a sweep of the two most likely successors to 2025 winner McDonogh. 

Sophomore Josh Downs and senior Owen Cyr scored on errors before sophomore junior Dylan Katz drove in sophomore Noah Tomasino to stake Park to an early 3-0 advantage in the opening frame. 

The Admirals rallied to within, 3-2, on Sam Fisher’s fourth-inning two-run single and tied it in the sixth on the clutch-hitting sophomore’s single that scored junior Max Barney from third. 

The lead was short-lived, however, because senior Zach Chait’s double brought home junior Jack Rogers  — who doubled — and junior Isaac Shapiro’s sacrifice fly snapped the deadlock in the bottom half of the inning. 

Strong pitching by Jordan Mentzell (6-0, 2.33 ERA, 40 K’s in 30 IP) to catcher Jonathan Couser (.609, 5 HR’s, 19 RBI’s, 18 R) has helped Concordia Prep to remain undefeated this spring, including a 12-6 victory over St. Vincent Pallotti last week.

“They function as a unit and trust each other,” Concordia Prep coach Peter Couser said about the senior battery. “Our seniors have modeled the work ethic and positive mentality you have to have in a sport where there is a lot of failure. I love how they have poured into the younger guys and that honestly matters to me more than wins and losses. Baseball gives us the platform to develop young men for baseball but even more-so for life.”

Senior RJ Samuels (.625, 5 HR’s  20 RBI’s, 18 R), “one of the nicest young men I’ve ever had the privilege to coach,” has been a welcome addition to the squad, the coach added. “The ball jumps off his bat and he has provided great support behind Jonathan in the lineup that we have struggled to find consistently in years’ past.”

Samuels, Jonathan Couser (100 hits and RBI’s in a 60-game career), Mentzell (.524, 5 XBH, 12 RBI’s) and Liam DeVincenzo (.667 OBP) have helped the Saints produce double-digit runs in their last six games.