State playoffs head into final week; Zack Steen wins Prep Ballplayer award

We’re nearing the end of the 2019 high school baseball season. Here’s a look at the public and private school matchups plus our latest Prep Ballplayer of the Week winner.

Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association

The 16 regional finals will be underway in just a few hours.

Thirteen of the 32 teams playing are from our coverage area — Baltimore City and its surrounding counties. Six of those 13 teams will be going head-to-head.

Speaking of head-to-head area matchups, Baltimore County’s Randallstown and Forest Park, a city school, face off in the Class 1A North final. The winner gets either Frederick Douglass or McDonough — from the South region — Tuesday at McCurdy Field in Frederick in the state semifinals.

The four other teams vying for a regional title include Colonel Richardson – Mardela (East) and Northern – Boonsboro (West). Same date and location for the state semis.

Wilde Lake, a Howard County team, plays La Plata in the Class 2A South final while Hereford, a Baltimore County school, takes on Gwynn Park for the North region crown. The winners meet in the state semis Tuesday at Montgomery Blair High School.

Harford County’s Fallston faces Parkside on the opposite side of the bracket in the East. The winner plays either Oakdale — who topped 2018 state champion Century in the regional semis Tuesday — or Middletown in the state semifinals on the same date and location above.

City school Baltimore Polytechnic Institute takes on Northern in the Class 3A South region final while Baltimore County’s Towson and C. Milton Wright, a Harford County school, square off in the North (the second head-to-head matchup). The winners of each final play Tuesday at Joe Cannon Stadium for a spot in the state championship.

Atholton, a Howard County team, faces J.M. Bennett in the East region while Carroll County’s Westminster gets Thomas Johnson, the defending state champions, out West. The state semis is also set for Joe Cannon Stadium Tuesday.

Dulaney knocked off 2018 Class 4A state champion Howard earlier this week. A win over Sherwood for the North region crown today would put the Baltimore County school in the state semis on Tuesday at Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda against Parkdale or Eleanor Roosevelt, of the South.

Two Anne Arundel teams go head-to-head in the East region title game: Old Mill and South River. The winner plays Walt Whitman or Clarksburg, of the West, in the state semifinal game, which is also held at Shirley Povich Field on Tuesday.

The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association

Top-seeded Calvert Hall used a one-run win over Gilman Wednesday to clinch a spot in the ‘A’ Conference championship game. The Cardinals await their opponent though, Gilman or Mount St. Joseph, who play this afternoon in an elimination game.

Boys’ Latin is in another ‘B’ Conference championship game after defeating Gerstell 14-4 Wednesday. The Lakers, who are looking for their fourth straight title, will either face Gerstell or Glenelg Country, who also play this afternoon.

The championship games are set for Monday afternoon and evening at Harford Community College. If Calvert Hall or Boys’ Latin were to lose, they would play again Tuesday because their double-elimination tournaments.

Same score, different result in the 2019 ‘C’ Conference championship game.

But this time, the 3-2 final was in favor of Concordia Prep, who outlasted Indian Creek — the defending champions — in extra innings Wednesday.

The title is a first for Concordia Prep.

Prep Ballplayer of the Week

Centennial’s Zack Steen earned 58 percent of the more than 8,600 total votes to win the latest award.

The junior pitched a one-hit shutout against Reservoir on May 11 in the Class 3A East regional quarterfinals.

Steen struck out nine hitters and at one point, retired 17 batters in a row.

He was one of three worthy candidates for the weekly award — joined by Century’s Jared Lamb and Fallston’s Connor Pickle.