While my main priority here, obviously, is baseball, it has been quite fascinating to learn about some of the schools Towson has played this year. When you see a location-specific name like University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the natural tendency is to assume, “that’s just some satellite school,” and not think anything of it. but in doing so you can miss out on a lot of history (and some pretty fine centers of higher education). From it’s inception in 1889 as a preparatory school for the institution that would become Morgan State University, to it’s role in the early half of the 20th century providing advanced agricultural and law programs to African-American students, the history of UMES provides a snapshot into the evolution of civil rights and education in our part of the country.
It even shares slight parallels to Towson’s baseball program, as UMES was once a football powerhouse, but lost the program after being unable to maintain the high cost of a Division I program while providing athletic opportunities to women under Title IX (a fate that almost befell the Tigers baseball team). They still sharing the record for most alumni to play in a single Superbowl and hold a place in history as part of one of the first interracial intercollegiate football games.
Oh yeah, baseball…
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks are only 8-28 on the season, with only three wins out of conference. Their best player is probably sophomore catcher Dominic DeBlasie, who is the only regular hitting over .300 and with on-base or slugging percentages over .400 (.307/.402/.443 to be exact). Outfielder Tyler Friis and freshman shortstop Dillon Oxyer will run on you if they get on base, combining for 25 stolen bases in 31 attempts.
On the mound, senior reliever Chris Melrath has been the Hawks best pitcher, striking out 21 in 20.2 innings (3.05 ERA). Senior Toby Hoskins is the only other hurler with an ERA under 4.00 – actually under 5.11 – but Towson probably won’t see him today. Instead, the Tigers get freshman Chris Levere, making his sixth start and ninth appearance.
Levere is listed at 5′ 9″ and, courtesy of this year old video, it looks like he throws a fastball, curve, and change, with pretty good movement on each and fairly consistent release points and arm speed. He may only sport a 7.71 ERA, but Towson hitters will want to wait on their pitch.
Lineup
Bo Plagge gets the start for the Tigers today. Plagge has been roughed up to the tune of 14 runs in his last three outings, resulting in an 11.51 ERA on the season, but, thanks to the good streaming video from Friday’s game at The Citadel, I can see why Towson keeps putting him on the mound. The sophomore right-hander is a big guy and, from what I could tell, isn’t missing by much. He will have stretches where he looks dominant, but this year the wheels have tended to fall off all at once. Consistency is what Plagge needs and the best way to get that is experience, so he gets his fourth start in a row, all in April.
The batting order has a lot to unpack. Andrew Cassard returns to the lead-off spot for at least a game, while playing in right field instead of his usual spot across the diamond. Colin Gimblet gets half a break by DH’ing. This past weekend’s breakout performer, Craig Alleyne, gets the start in centerfield, meaning Mark Grunberg sits for the first time all year and leaves Richie Palacios as the only Tiger to play (and start) every game this season. We are also on high alert for Palacios to become Towson’s all-time stolen base king – he needs one to tie and two to take the crown. Billy Lennox and Richard Miller have both been hot and sit in the middle of the order, while Dirk Masters moves up to the six spot. Drew Bossi and Charlie Watters start and round out the line-up.
Here are links to live stats and streaming video.
- Andrew Cassard, RF
- Richie Palacios, SS
- Colin Gimblet, DH
- Billy Lennox, LF
- Richard Miller, 3B
- Dirk Masters, 2B
- Craig Alleyne, CF
- Drew Bossi, C
- Charlie Watters, 1B
Starting Pitcher– Bo Plagge, RHP
Musical Finale
One of University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s notable alumni is legendary sax player, the big man, Clarence Clemons.
