Prince George's Baseball Heads To CCBC Essex For MD JUCO Contest On Tuesday

GAME DAY INFORMATION
Prince George's (17-8-1, 3-6-1 MD JUCO)
at CCBC Essex (8-15, 4-8 MD JUCO)
Tue, April 11, 2017, 3:30 p.m.
Baseball Field | Baltimore, Md.

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PRINCE GEORGE'S: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS
CCBC ESSEX: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS

opening pitch… Prince George's completes its two-game road trip at CCBC Essex on Tuesday. The Knights have won four straight, including an 8-4 decision on Mar. 7 in Largo. The Owls last win in the series was a 5-4 decision in 2015.  

the word on the knights… CCBC Essex, who travels to Camden County on Monday, comes into play on Monday 8-15 overall and 4-8 in league play after sweeping a doubleheader against Allegany College of Maryland on Saturday. Mitch Fyffe leads the team with a .325 batting average with 25 hits, 15 runs scored, six doubles, a triple, four homers and 22 RBIs. Luke Nakich is second with a .274 batting average with 17 hits, nine runs scored, a double and five RBIs while Corey Lewis has 14 hits, 10 runs scored, two doubles and three RBIs. Franco Velasquez has tossed a team-best 23.2 innings with a 2-2 record and 26 strikeouts with a 3.42 ERA.

last time we met… CCBC Essex defeated Prince George's Community College 8-4 on Mar. 7. The game was called in the top of the ninth inning due to darkness with the Knights batting. Ryan Faircloth paced the Owls with two hits and an RBI while registered two runs scored. Dwayne Coleman posted a hit, a run scored and an RBI, and Naquan Holden also knocked in a run on the afternoon. Michael Fisher fueled the Knights with two hits and two RBIs while Chase Montanez notched two RBIs, a hit and a run scored, and JD Bruck posted two runs scored, a hit and an RBI in the winning effort.

last time out… Harford Community College defeated ninth-ranked Prince George's Community College 10-8 on Apr. 4. Brandon Crosby posted two doubles, two runs scored and two stolen bases. The freshman now has 21 stolen bases and leads both the NJCAA Division III and Maryland JUCO in the category. Dakota McFadden had two hits on the night, including a two-run homer for his third homer of the year. Austin Adams added two hits and two runs scored while Siri-Jacob Ramirez registered two hits, s run scored and an RBI. The first seven hitters in the Prince George's lineup had at least two hits in the game.

next on tap… Prince George's returns home for a three-team, four-game homestand that will see CCBC Dundalk (Thursday), Frederick (Saturday) and Anne Arundel (Apr. 20) come to town in that stretch. Prince George's has 17 regular season games left on the schedule and will play 10 of those contests at the Prince George's Community College Baseball Field.

nationally ranked… The Prince George's Community College baseball team entered the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Baseball Rankings in the ninth spot last week. This is the first time this year the Owls have been ranked in the national poll. Prince George's, Eastfield and Rockingham each registered 12 points to finish tied in the poll for ninth. Tyler received five first-place votes to earn the top spot with 66 points while Brookdale (62 points) and Cumberland County (57 points) picked up one first-place vote each to finish second and third in the poll. Rowan Gloucester (53 points), St. Cloud Tech (37 points), Century (35 points), Niagara County (24 points) and Waubonsee (15 points) rounded out the Top-8 teams in the field ahead of Prince George's.

theft master… Freshman Brandon Crosby became the third player in the last five years to reach 20 steals in a season after swiping two bases against Harford on Apr. 4. Crosby, who currently has 21 bases, joins Roland Eusesio (26, 2016) and Abdiel Marcano (29, 2014 and 20, 2013) as the only players with 20 steals in that stretch.

punch out kings… Five Prince George's pitchers have recorded nine strikeouts or more in a game this season. Jonathan Mahoney posted 11 strikeouts in a five-inning game against Central Virginia on Feb. 8 while Michael Hovermill, Jr. registered 11 strikeouts in nine innings against Anne Arundel on Mar. 28 for the top strikeout mark this season. Dakota McFadden struck out 10 College of Faith hitters on Feb. 18 in seven innings while Mahoney posted nine punch outs against Orange County on Feb. 26 and Kilian Bloat registered nine strikeouts against UVAA on Feb. 17. Thomas Thorgersen recorded nine of his 12 outs recorded via the strikeout against Harford on Apr. 4. Prince George's suffered its first loss of the season against the Fighting Owls when a pitcher tallied at least nine punch outs in a game and sits 5-1 on the year when a hurler reaches that feat.

hovermill honored… Michael Hovermill, Jr. was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 27-April 2. It is Hovermill's first honor of the season. Hovermill pitched a nine inning complete-game gem in a 7-1 win against Anne Arundel Community College on Mar. 28, allowing one run on four hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts on 117 pitches. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning five times and retired 12 of 13 batters faced from the second to the fifth inning with the only hitter reaching base on an error in that stretch. The Riverhawks were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and twice Anne Arundel had runners in scoring position with no outs and the freshman got out of both innings unscathed. 

what a stretch… After going through a five-game winless streak, Prince George's has won seven of its last 10 games, including going 6-0 against NJCAA Division III teams and have won all four games against Division III Region XX competition. The squad has posted 61 runs in the seven wins and has tallied 12 innings with two or more runs scored, including three four-run frames, four five-run innings and a nine-run outburst against Montgomery. The Owls have accounted for 51 of their 61 runs in this span in a multiple scoring run inning. The team has pounded out 76 hits in the seven victories, including 28 extra base hits (19 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs).

region xx tournament… Prince George's Community College will host the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament on May 12-14 and looks to be in good position to be the top seed in the three-day event. The Owls swept CACC-Allegheny 6-2 and 11-1 on Mar. 26 and then swept Montgomery 14-11 and 3-2 on Apr. 2. Westmoreland County will come to town on Apr. 29.

in the nation… Brandon Crosby leads the National Junior College Athletic Association with 21 stolen bases while ranking fifth in runs (36) and 10th in RBIs (34). Dakota McFadden ranks fourth in doubles (13). Harold Marte has moved into eighth in home runs (6) and eighth in slugging percentage (.821) while Bay To is seventh in triples (4). As a team, the Owls lead Division III in slugging percentage (.590) while ranking third in batting average (.383), fourth in triples (16), sixth in home runs (21), fourth in on-base percentage (.467) and ninth in stolen bases (59). NOTE: Prince George's is an NJCAA Division III member so these rankings only include Division III programs in the nation.

in the league… Brandon Crosby leads Maryland JUCO in stolen bases (21) while ranking second in on-base percentage (.560), third in hits (46), third in batting average (.479), fifth in RBIs (34), seventh in doubles (11), and seventh in runs scored (36). Dakota McFadden ranks second the circuit in doubles (12) while ranking fourth in ERA (2.57), seventh in wins (4), ninth in slugging percentage (.679) ninth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.02) and 10th in innings pitched (32.1). Jonathan Mahoney ranks fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.25), seventh in wins (4) and eighth in strikeouts (41). Bay To sits second in triples (4) and eighth in slugging percentage (.711) while Siri-Jacob Ramirez is seventh in triples (3), and Austin Adams, Kilian Bloat and Quentin Rohrbaugh are tied for 10th in the category (2). Harold Marte sits fourth in slugging percentage (.821), eighth in batting average (.418) and eighth in home runs (6). As a team, the Owls lead the conference with a .383 batting average while ranking second in on-base percentage (.467), second in slugging percentage (.590), second in triples (16), third in runs (240), third in  hits (295), third in doubles (65), third in RBIs (208), third in stolen bases (55) and fourth in home runs (21) in the circuit. NOTE: The Maryland JUCO is comprised of all the teams from Maryland no matter what division affiliation (Division I, II or III).

the long ball… Prince George's has smacked 21 home runs this season. Harold Marte leads the team with six homers while Dwayne Coleman has smacked four home runs, and Ryan Faircloth, Dakota McFadden and Bay To each have three round trippers. Brandon Crosby and Siri-Jacob Ramirez each have one long ball this season.  

the roster… Head coach Buddy Foster has added 11 freshmen to his team in 2017 while returning 10 players from last year's team.

a loss to the owls family... Legendary Prince George's baseball coach William "Bumps" Vaughan passed away at the age of 90 on Feb. 25. In his long career as a head coach includes 21 years at the helm of the Owls from 1986-2005. The Owls will be wearing a special patch on their uniforms in honor of Vaughan and the athletic department will pay tribute to the legendary coach at an upcoming game.

about the coach… Head coach Buddy Foster enters his sixth season as the head coach of the baseball team. Foster has been at Prince George's since the 2009 campaign after serving as the squad's pitching coach for three seasons before being elevated to the head coach position. He

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