Prep Baseball: Mavericks Have Eye on the Prize

Eastern Tech’s senior class has posted a 38-13 record.

During that span, the Mavericks have won two region titles and played in a Class 2A state championship game in 2009. Still, those seniors believe there is only one way to cap their very successful careers: win a state title.

“Since March 1, our only goal has been to win a state championship,” said senior outfielder Nick McElfish. “We have a tradition of winning at Eastern Tech and I can’t think of a better way to complete my career.”

For Eastern Tech, the defending Class 2A North champions appear in good shape to compete for their eighth region title in the last nine years and potentially go after the program’s third 2A state title and first since 2007.

The Mavericks improved to 11-5 overall following Monday’s 26-0 rout of Edmondson in a Class 2A North quarterfinal game that was halted after five innings.

In that game, third baseman Tim Heim was 2-for-3 with four RBIs, while Rob Alexander, Andy Szamski and Matt Evans drove in two runs each for. Starting pitcher Chris Hook allowed no runs and no hits in two innings for the Mavericks.

Evans allowed a hit and struck out eight in three innings of relief for Mavericks, which is set to take on top seed Digital Harbor at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday at Swan Park in Baltimore. Digital Harbor advanced with a 12-2 win over Douglass.

Longtime Eastern Tech coach Spike McElfish said his team knows not to take too much out of an easy victory like the one they posted against Edmondson. He is confident that the Mavericks will remain focused, as the players are aware that their next loss will mean the end to their season, and for the seniors, the end of their careers.

“These players understand that each game this time of year will get tougher as we go through the bracket,” Spike McElfish said. “They’ve done a tremendous job of staying focused and we know there are several players capable of having a big game for us.”

This includes outfielder Jimmy Szamski, who is batting .512 with 13 RBIs and 24 runs scored. Nick McElfish, who is planning on playing college baseball at Frostburg State, is batting .453 with 15 RBIs, 24 runs scored and seven stolen bases.

In addition, designated hitter Josh Entwistle is batting .422 with a team-high 19 RBIs while Heim is batting .362 with 18 RBIs. On the mound, Hook has struck out 47 and has a 3.15 ERA in 40 innings.

Entwistle said the Mavericks have had to remain especially focused this year as heavy rain led to many rainouts and constant schedule changes.

“We always try to remember what our ultimate goal is, and that is to be playing at Ripken Stadium,” said Entwistle, referring to the site of the state championship game. “This whole season we remember to bring our game gear and our practice gear because we knew that if we didn’t play because of rain, we would practice as hard as if we were actually playing. Anything less than a championship would be disappointing.”