College Corner: A look at 12 players who may have a big impact on Maryland diamonds in 2017

I’m guessing many of you have never attended a local college baseball game before. The stands are usually dotted with friends, family and the occasional scout, but not many casual observers.

I’ve been working in college baseball in Baltimore for more than three years now. I’m the voice of the Johns Hopkins University baseball team, as well as the Baltimore Redbirds, a member of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. So, I know how good the talent is in this area and how much fun it is to watch.

Therefore, I think it’s a great idea to shine the spotlight on the unknown of Baltimore/Maryland college baseball, and I truly hope you’ll enjoy this weekly feature.

I thought for our site’s first “College Corner,” we should take a look at which players are likely to make a significant impact toward their respective teams’ successes this spring.

Here are a dozen players from four-year colleges in Maryland to keep an eye on in 2017 (listed in alphabetical order).

Dan Albert, 1B, Johns Hopkins University
Senior/Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS

Albert is arguably the top power hitter in the Centennial Conference. The 6-foot, 200-pound, left-handed hitter has 13 career home runs, including a conference-best nine last season. He also added a team-high 43 RBIs, third best in the league. He’s durable, having played 44 of JHU’s 45 games while leading his team to its second straight NCAA regional berth.

Albert did not receive All-Centennial honors at first base in 2016 and that snub may motivate him further in his final collegiate season. The Blue Jays also are looking for some revenge against rival and defending conference champion Haverford.

Adrian Chinnery, C, U.S. Naval Academy
Senior/Wilmington, DE/John Dickinson HS

Chinnery is considered the heartbeat of the Midshipmen squad, so it’s not surprising he’s the player to watch at Navy. The first-team, All-Patriot League catcher has a cannon arm, throwing out more than 40% of attempted base stealers in his college career.

A career .290 hitter after two straight seasons of hitting better than .300, the 6-foot, 180-pound right-handed hitter enters his final season with the Midshipmen looking to go a perfect 4-for-4 in making the Patriot League tournament. Last season, Navy won the conference tourney and made the NCAA’s for the first time since 2011. They’ve made it just three times since 2002.

Hunter Dolshun, C, UMBC
Senior/Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley HS

An extremely reliable and durable player during his first three seasons, Dolshun, a catcher/infielder, looks to build on his breakout 2016. He had a career-high 13 home runs, including five in one week, and also contributed a career-best 47 RBIs. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound right-hander earned America East All-Conference, first-team honors, one year after being named to the All-Conference second team.

Dolshun’s also considered a team leader for the Retrievers, who will look to improve on their 2016 season (28-23). They were eliminated from the conference tournament after losing to Albany and Maine.

Josh Gall, C, Hood College
Junior/Odenton, MD/Arundel HS

Gall is a career .350 hitter with 9 home runs. Much of that production, however, occurred as a freshman, when he hit .435 and drove in a career-high 55 runs. He dropped to a .265 average and 27 RBIs in 2016, when he experienced a sophomore slump.

Hood, in its third year of baseball, hasn’t yet made the conference tournament or had a winning season. But if Gall, a 5-foot-11 left-handed hitter, can repeat his freshman campaign, it would be a huge step toward reaching those goals.

Billy Griffin, LHP, Washington College
Senior/Middletown, MD/Middletown HS

An All-Centennial Conference honorable mention as a starting pitcher in 2016, Griffin is back for one final season at Athey Park. He had a solid junior campaign, going 4-1 on the mound over seven appearances, six of which were starts. Those four wins tied him for the team lead in victories, and he posted a 2.52 ERA.

Griffin followed up his school season with a phenomenal summer in the New York Collegiate Baseball League, where he was named an All Star. Also a member of the 2016 Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship team, Griffin, a team captain, has one last chance to make it to the conference tournament, something the Shoremen haven’t accomplished in his career.

Jordan Lawson, LHP, Mount St. Mary’s
Graduate Student/Harrisburg, PA/Cedar Cliff HS

Lawson had his senior season end prematurely last year – with just three games and 5 2/3 innings logged — due to a knee injury.  Now, after nearly a year, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound lefty returns to the Mount for his 5th and final season.

During his last full season of action in 2015, Lawson posted a 3.83 ERA with five wins, five saves and 49 strikeouts over 47 innings of work. He led the team in wins, strikeouts and saves, while ranking second in innings pitched and third in ERA. The team missed him in 2016; it went just 11-37. The Mount will be looking for its first winning season since 2007.

Bryant Miranda, 3B, Coppin State
Senior/Cidra, Puerto Rico/Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) HS

A two-time, All-MEAC honoree — third team in 2016 and second team in 2015 – Miranda is arguably Coppin’s best all-around player. Last season, the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder led the Eagles in batting average (.333), runs scored (52), hits (64), stolen bases (16), games started (52) and at-bats (192). He was named to the All-MEAC Tournament team for his outstanding performance on the basepaths during those four games, scoring eight runs and swiping four bases.

Miranda will look to help his team get back to the MEAC tournament again in 2017 for the 2nd straight season. A few years removed from 2012’s 1-52 record, Coppin was 14-38 last season. The Eagles will look to build on that this spring, when they open their season at USC in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Richie Palacios, INF, Towson University
Sophomore/Brooklyn, NY/Berkeley Carroll School

A consensus Freshman All-American last season, Palacios is back for round two of his college baseball career. He made an immediate impact for the Tigers, setting a school record with 32 stolen bases as well as Towson’s freshman record for hits with 74. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound lefty batter was voted by the league’s head coaches as one of the top pure hitters and defensive infielders in the CAA.

Palacios comes from a baseball family: His father, Richard, made it to Triple-A in Detroit’s system; his uncle, Rey, played for the Kansas City Royals; and his brother, Josh, was selected last year in the fourth round by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Auburn University. Towson looks to improve on its 20-35 record from 2016, hoping to get back to the CAA Tournament for the first time since winning it in 2013 and advancing to the Chapel Hill Regional.

Mike Rescigno, RHP, University of Maryland
Senior/Monmouth Beach, NJ/Red Bank Catholic HS

One of the top relief pitchers in college baseball, Rescigno enters his final season as the top senior prospect in Division 1, according to Perfect Game. The New Jersey native was also named the top prospect in the Cal Ripken League this past summer by Baseball America and Perfect Game after recording a 1.14 ERA and striking out 19 batters in 15.2 innings for the Baltimore Redbirds. As a junior last season, he had a 5.59 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 19.1 innings, while recording a couple of wins and three saves.

Rescigno, who is 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, was selected in the 25th round of the 2016 MLB draft by the San Francisco Giants, but decided to stay in school for his final year of eligibility. He’s a vital piece on a very experienced club that is widely considered preseason Big Ten favorites.

Greg Schneider, RHP, Frostburg State University
Junior/Jefferson Hills, PA/Thomas Jefferson HS

A three-year member of the Bobcats pitching staff, Schneider has compiled some impressive numbers as a starting pitcher. His 91 strikeouts in 2016 was tops in the Capital Athletic Conference (14th in Division 3), as was his 12.9 strikeouts-per-inning rate (4th in D3).

Those numbers convinced d3baseball.com to name Schneider a pre-season All-American honorable mention for the second straight year. Two years removed from a NCAA Division 3 World Series appearance, Frostburg will look to get back to the top of the CAC after falling to Salisbury, 9-8, in the conference championship game on its home turf last season.

Kevin Smith, SS, University of Maryland
Junior/East Greenbush, NY/Columbia HS

When considering the country’s best college baseball talent in 2017, Smith should be on the list. He was tabbed as a pre-season All-American by multiple outlets and was the pre-season selection for Big Ten Player of the Year by both Perfect Game and D1baseball.com. Those accolades follow a breakout summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Playing for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, Smith hit .301 in 41 games while leading the team in hits (43) and doubles (12). He ultimately helped led his club to the CCBL title while being honored as an All Star and all-league selection.

A standout in the classroom as well, the 6-foot, 188-pound, right-handed-hitter earned All-Academic honors in 2016. He returns to College Park to help the nationally-ranked Terps get to the College World Series in Omaha. He’ll also enter this season knowing if he puts up solid numbers, he’ll more than likely be taken in the first few rounds of the 2017 MLB draft. His season begins Friday in the Clearwater (Fla.) Tournament against Ball State.

Dan Williams, RHP, Stevenson University
Sophomore/Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek HS

Two-sport athletes are fairly uncommon in college these days, but Williams is the starting quarterback for the Mustang football team and pitches for the baseball program. Williams sat out last spring after suffering a football injury, so he’ll look to build on a solid freshman year after more than a year away from the mound.

As a freshman, he appeared in 12 games, starting 10. In 54.2 innings, he finished with a 3-3 record and 38 strikeouts while tossing two complete games and recording a save. His presence in the rotation will be welcomed after the Mustangs were 21-22 in 2016. They open their season Friday in Fayetteville, N.C., against Rutgers-Newark.

Here are some match-ups between Maryland schools this season:
** Frostburg at Stevenson, Feb. 19 and March 3.
** Frostburg at Johns Hopkins, March 5.
** Towson at UMBC, March 8.
** A three-game series between UMBC and Mount St. Mary’s, April 1-2.
** A three-game series between Hood and Stevenson, April 7-8.
** Maryland vs Towson at Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen, May 3.
** UMBC at Maryland, May 9.
** UMBC at Towson, May 10.
** Coppin State at UMBC, April 12 and May 11.