High School

With playoffs happening, Blohm, McElree and Zoellner step up for ‘Prep Ballplayer’ honors

By Dean Jones

Posted on May 16, 2016

The playoffs have started for both the public schools and the MIAA.

Some teams played their first-round matchups Friday, but a lot of the games were moved to Saturday because of the rain that has continued to hit the Baltimore area this spring.

The MIAA A and B Conferences are scheduled to hold their championships – weather permitting, of course – at Ripken Stadium next week. Archbishop Spalding, the two-time defending champion, is the top seed in the MIAA A Conference.

The MPSSAA state championship games will be played at the end of the month. The Class 4A title game will be held at the University of Maryland’s Shipley Field on May 27 at 7 p.m., while the other three classifications are set to be decided during a tripleheader at Ripken Stadium on May 28. The Class 1A title game will be played at noon, followed by Class 2A at 3 p.m. and Class 3A at 6 p.m.

In 2015, Southern-Anne Arundel was the only local team to win a MPSSAA state title. The Bulldogs, who won their second straight Class 2A championship last year, kicked off this year’s postseason with a five-inning no-hitter in a 32-1 victory Saturday over Central, of Prince George’s County. They’ll travel to play another Prince George’s County team – Crossland — in the 2A South Section II semifinal today.

Last week, Westminster’s Brandon Martin earned the BaltimoreBaseball.com Prep Ballplayer of the Week honor after he received nearly 4,000 of the more than 6,600 total votes. Martin became the third straight public-school player to win the award – joining Bel Air’s Michael Yetter and Fallston’s Bryce Logan. Archbishop Spalding’s Billy Godrick and Loyola Blakefield’s Jack Sheehan have also been recognized by our readers this year.

Our Prep Ballplayer of the Week voting is designed as a way to highlight three of the Baltimore area’s top high school performances in a post every Monday. Then, our readers get to vote – early and often – for the finalist they believe should be our winner. To vote, make your selection at the bottom of this post. Voting ends 11:59 p.m. Thursday night. We’ll reveal the winner Friday.

Details on each of this week’s three candidates – for the games from May 9 to 15 – are listed below, as well as the other players who received serious consideration.

If you would like to submit candidates to be considered for “Prep Ballplayer of the Week” in the future, please send the player’s name, key statistics from the previous week and your contact information to [email protected].

THIS WEEK’S FINALISTS

Tyler Blohm, Archbishop Spalding
In his final, regular-season game for the Cavaliers, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior left-hander dominated Archbishop Curley on Tuesday. Blohm, who has committed to pitch at Maryland next year, struck out 15 of the 19 batters he faced and gave up only two hits in six innings as Archbishop Spalding cruised to an 11-3 win over the Friars. Heading into the MIAA A Conference playoffs, Blohm is 8-0 with a 0.78 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 54 innings. He has at least 10 strikeouts in five games this year.

Jesse McElree, South River
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound outfielder led the Seahawks to a 7-3 victory over Annapolis in their Class 4A East Section II quarterfinal matchup Saturday. McElree hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a tie game. He also had a triple in the win, which moved South River into Monday’s sectional semifinal at Chopticon. During the regular season, McElree batted .483 with 16 RBIs and 18 runs scored. He was 4-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBIs in the Seahawks’ 12-5 win over Glen Burnie in the regular-season finale May 5.

Elliot Zoellner, St. Mary’s
With two losses in three games last week, St. Mary’s fell just short of qualifying for the MIAA A Conference playoffs in their first season since moving up from the B Conference. But Zoellner, who also is committed to play at Maryland, helped to temporarily keep the Saints in contention in their 3-2, 10-inning victory over Calvert Hall on Tuesday. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-hander had 13 strikeouts and held the Cardinals to two unearned runs and three hits in six innings. Sophomore right-hander Stephen Pelli, who is committed to Virginia Tech, relieved Zoellner and struck out eight batters in four scoreless innings to earn the win. Zoellner finished with a 4-3 record, 0.97 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings this season.

Others considered (listed alphabetically): Josh Bathgate, North County; Colin Bowling, North Harford; Jack Elstner, Severn; Evan Fochtman, Archbishop Spalding; Dustin Gosnell, Chesapeake-AA; Tyler Green, Northeast; Tommy Heck, Poly; Bryce Jackson, Old Mill; Christian Melendez, Aberdeen; Stephen Pelli, St. Mary’s; Jordan Wax, North Harford.

BALTIMOREBASEBALL.COM PREP BALLPLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Week 1 (April 4-10): Billy Godrick, Archbishop Spalding
Week 2 (April 11-17): Jack Sheehan, Loyola Blakefield
Week 3 (April 18-24): Michael Yetter, Bel Air
Week 4 (April 25-May 1): Bryce Logan, Fallston
Week 5 (May 2-8): Brandon Martin, Westminster