65 Washington County boys athletes to watch in baseball, lacrosse, track and tennis

The Washington County high school spring sports season soon will be in full swing with lacrosse, baseball, tennis and track and field.

Clear Spring is the two-time defending Maryland Class 1A state baseball champion, while North Hagerstown won the 3A West Region I title last year. This year's baseball playoffs will begin May 9, with region finals planned for May 14 and the state tournament May 17-25, with the championship games at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf.

St. Maria Goretti is the three-time defending Old Line League baseball champion and will field two teams this year, with the Blue team facing a more difficult schedule and the Gold team, made up mostly of underclassmen, playing in the Old Line League. Broadfording is the defending Mason Dixon Christian Conference champion.

Smithsburg has reached the Class 1A boys lacrosse state semifinals in each of the last five seasons, including state finals appearances in 2018 and 2021. This year's lacrosse playoffs will begin May 8, with region finals May 13 and the state tournament May 15-23, with the finals at Stevenson University in Owings Mills.

St. Maria Goretti, which went 12-2 and won the Appalachian State League lacrosse championship last year, is not fielding a team in its final season before the school closes.

Boonsboro's tennis team finished second in the Class 1A state tournament a year ago (at the state level, all boys and girls points earned count toward one overall team title). This year's regional tournaments will be played from May 10-18, with the state tournament planned for May 23-25 at Wilde Lake Tennis Club. The county tournament is scheduled for May 8-10 at South Hagerstown.

The state track and field championships will be held May 21 and 23 at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex. The county meet is scheduled for May 8 at North Hagerstown.

The first official play date for Maryland public school spring sports is Thursday.

Here are 65 boys to watch this spring. All stats are from 2023 unless noted:

Baseball

Luke Frazee, Sr., North Hagerstown — Last spring, Frazee batted .373 for the Hubs, leading the team in extra-base hits (10), RBIs (22), runs (22) and OPS (1.112). He had two homers, two triples and six doubles.

Garrett Gibson, Jr., St. Maria Goretti — Gibson batted .443 and tied for the county lead in doubles (10) to go with two homers, 28 RBIs and 24 runs. He went 3-0 on the mound with a 0.57 ERA.

Ty Hames, Jr., St. Maria Goretti — Hames batted .347 with six doubles, a homer, 22 RBIs, 18 runs and 11 walks.

Warner Harper, Sr., St. Maria Goretti — Harper batted .452 with three homers and 16 RBIs. He ranked third in the county in OPS (1.397).

Dawson Kehr, Sr., Clear Spring — Kehr batted .338 with three home runs, four doubles and 22 RBIs, including a walk-off home run in the Class 1A state final. On the mound, he went 2-0 with 51 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings. He has signed to play at East Carolina.

Ian Kelley, Jr., North Hagerstown — Kelley won three games as a pitcher with a 3.42 ERA and 17 strikeouts. He also scored 11 runs and drew 12 walks. The left-hander has verbally committed to N.C. State.

Andrew Kerns, Sr., St. Maria Goretti — Kerns went 5-0 with a 0.71 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings. He batted .400 with two homers and 15 RBIs. He has signed to play for Virginia Tech.

Seojun Kim, Jr., Broadfording — Kim batted .491 and was named the Mason Dixon Christian Conference Player of the Year after leading the Lions to the MDCC regular-season and tournament titles.

Isaiah Licorish, Sr., South Hagerstown — Licorish batted .308 with four doubles and nine walks, and struck out 51 as a pitcher. He has signed to play at Division I Coppin State.

Zack Molloy, Sr., Saint James — Molloy scored 10 runs, drew nine walks and stole six bases for the Saints.

Will Oates, Sr., St. Maria Goretti — Oates was The Herald-Mail's hitter of the year, leading the county in batting (.600), RBIs (32), runs (37), walks (27) and OPS (1.744) to help the Gaels achieve a county-best 20-2 record. He tied for the county lead in extra-base hits (14), including five homers and eight doubles. He has signed to play at Division I Merrimack.

Henry Ortiz, Sr., North Hagerstown — Ortiz went 5-2 with a 2.39 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 38 innings. He batted .328 with three homers, four doubles and 16 RBIs.

Blaire Ray, Jr., Hancock — Ray ranked second among public-school players in batting (.462) and tied for third among all players with 18 stolen bases. He finished with four doubles, 14 RBIs and 11 runs. On the mound, he racked up 41 strikeouts.

Carson Rhodes, Jr., Boonsboro — Rhodes batted .362 with three doubles.

Brady Romsburg, Sr., Williamsport — Romsburg batted .333 with four doubles, 11 walks, 15 runs and 10 RBIs. In limited action on the mound, he had a 2.63 ERA.

Mac Stiffler, Sr., North Hagerstown — Stiffler went 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings. He hit three homers and drove in 15 runs. He has signed to play at West Virginia.

Parker Sweeney, Jr., St. Maria Goretti — Sweeney batted .436 with two homers, three triples, four doubles, 22 walks, 21 RBIs and 25 runs. On the mound, he went 5-1 with 36 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. He has verbally committed to Virginia Tech.

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Lacrosse

Seth Aliveto, Jr., Saint James — Aliveto had 28 goals, 15 assists and 63 ground balls for the Saints.

Marques Barnes, Jr., South Hagerstown — Barnes won 46 ground balls in just 10 games for the Rebels.

Aiden Clark, Sr., North Hagerstown — Clark made 162 saves with a 54% save percentage for the Hubs. He's moving to defense this season.

Joseph Fox, Sr., South Hagerstown — Fox made a state-record 346 saves (23.1 per game) with a 56.2% save percentage for the Rebels.

Josh Kalons, Sr., Smithsburg — Kalons had 33 goals and 10 assists for the Leopards.

Kaden Kidwiler, Sr., Boonsboro — Kidwiler had 22 goals, 14 assists and 52 ground balls for the Warriors.

Evan Kotkin, Jr., Saint James — Kotkin made 183 saves with a 59.2% save percentage. He made the all-county first team as a freshman.

Blake Linn, Jr., Smithsburg — Linn had 20 goals, 35 assists and 17 caused turnovers for the Leopards.

Wyatt Maguire, Jr., Saint James — Maguire had 54 ground balls, 18 caused turnovers, 11 goals and five assists for the Saints.

Garrett Mazenko, Sr., Smithsburg — Two years ago as a sophomore, Mazenko had 37 goals, 13 assists and 26 ground balls for the Leopards.

Trevor Owens, Sr., Saint James — Owens had 62 ground balls, 26 caused turnovers, 19 goals and nine assists for the Saints. He has signed to play for the University of Maryland.

Ashton Redman, Sr., Smithsburg — Redman had 28 caused turnovers and 32 ground balls for the Leopards.

Andrew Rupp, So., Saint James — Rupp had 36 goals, nine assists and 15 caused turnovers for the Saints.

Joey Ryan, Sr., Smithsburg — Ryan won 60 ground balls and caused nine turnovers for the Leopards.

Brett Sharpless, Sr., Boonsboro — Sharpless had 16 goals, 13 assists and 24 ground balls for the Warriors.

Colin Telemeco, Jr., Boonsboro — Telemeco won 90 faceoffs and 55 ground balls while adding seven goals for the Warriors.

Zachary von Garrel, Sr., Smithsburg — Von Garrel made 204 saves with a 71.8% save percentage, allowing just 4.7 goals per game for the Leopards.

Ayden Weakfall, Jr., Smithsburg — Weakfall had 33 goals and seven assists for the Leopards.

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Track & Field

Donovan Baldwin, Jr., North Hagerstown — Baldwin was the runner-up in the county 400 and third in the 800. He's coming off an indoor season in which he was the county champion in the 500 and ran on the Hubs' county title-winning 4x400 relay.

Rishi Bhat, Jr., North Hagerstown — Bhat was the county champion in the 3,200 for the Hubs. He's a two-time top-three finisher in the county cross country meet.

Nick Cullember, Jr., Clear Spring — Cullember placed second in the county in the discus and third in the shot put. He's coming off an indoor season in which he ranked third in the shot put and placed second in the county and fourth in Class 1A at states.

Jakob Davidson, Jr., Boonsboro — Davidson was the county runner-up in the 3,200 outdoors last spring. He's coming off an indoor season in which he ranked third in the county in the 1,600, 3,200 and pole vault.

Odin Desir, Sr., North Hagerstown — Desir placed third in the 400 and fifth in the 200 in the county meet. He's coming off an indoor season in which he won the county title in the 55 and placed second in the 300.

Xavier Douge, Sr., Smithsburg — Douge finished third in the county in the 110 hurdles. He's coming off an indoor season in which he finished second in 1A West and third in the county in the 55 hurdles.

Jacob Faith, Jr., Clear Spring — Faith won the 2023 Class 1A high jump state title indoors and won the county title outdoors. He's coming off a second-place finish in the high jump at this year's indoor state meet. Also competes in the long jump and triple jump.

John Flint, Sr., Smithsburg — Flint won the county title in the pole vault indoors last month for the Leopards.

Ryder Johnston, Sr., North Hagerstown — Johnston won county titles in the 300 hurdles and long jump, and placed second in the 100. He finished fifth in Class 3A in the 300 hurdles and long jump at states. He's coming off an indoor season in which he won the county title in the 300, ran a leg of the county-winning 4x400 relay and was the runner-up in the 55 hurdles.

Waylon Leach, Sr., Hancock — Leach is coming off an indoor season in which he won the county title in the shot put and finished fifth in Class 1A at the state meet.

Dayvion Martin, So., South Hagerstown — Martin is coming off an indoor season in which he finished third in 3A West in the shot put for the Rebels.

Walker Mason, So., North Hagerstown — Mason won the county cross country title in the fall, and is coming off an indoor season in which he won the county title in the 1,600 and the Central Maryland Conference title in the 3,200. He placed third in Class 3A in the 3,200 at states.

Wisdom Moses, Sr., South Hagerstown — Moses was the county champion in the triple jump for the Rebels.

Caleb Owusu-Ayim, Sr., North Hagerstown — Owusu-Ayim won the county title in the 100 and ran a leg of the Hubs' county-winning 4x100 relay. He's coming off an indoor season in which he had the county's top time in the 55, though he suffered a hamstring injury in the final of the county meet that ended his season early.

Kalel Salifou, Sr., North Hagerstown — Salifou placed second in the county in the triple jump and third in the high jump. He's coming off an indoor season in which he was the runner-up in the high jump in both the county and 3A West meets.

Richard Sanon, Jr., Williamsport — Sanon is coming off an indoor season in which he won county and 2A West titles in the 55 hurdles before placing second at states. Last year, he was the county champion in the 110 hurdles.

Ah'Ryan White, Sr., Smithsburg — White finished second in the county in the 300 hurdles.

Michael Wynkoop, So., Smithsburg — Wynkoop was the county runner-up and placed fifth in Class 1A at states in cross country last fall. He's coming off an indoor season in which he won county titles in the 800 and 3,200, and was second in the 1,600. He placed third in Class 1A in the 3,200 at states.

Tyler Younker, Jr., Smithsburg — Younker placed third in the county meet in the 1,600 and was part of the Leopards' county-winning 4x400 relay. He's coming off an indoor season in which he finished second in the 800, third in the 500 and fourth in the 1,600 in the county meet.

Tennis

David Akamine, Sr., North Hagerstown — Akamine went 12-4 in doubles matches, including 9-2 with Zander Hine, for the Hubs.

Dillon Albowicz, Sr., Clear Spring — Albowicz went 5-2 in doubles with Ben Rankin, reaching the county tournament final. He also won six singles matches.

Mason Bauer, Sr., Williamsport — Bauer won the boys singles championship in the county tournament, finishing with a 7-7 singles record for the Wildcats.

Blake Bussard, Sr., Clear Spring — Bussard finished 10-4 in doubles matches with multiple partners for the Blazers.

Brady Ernst, So., Clear Spring — Ernst went 8-5 in singles matches for the Blazers.

Zander Hine, So., North Hagerstown — Hine went 12-4 in doubles matches, including 9-2 with David Akamine, for the Hubs.

Abe Jones, Sr., North Hagerstown — Jones won three matches at No. 1 singles for the Hubs.

Hunter Liao, Jr., Boonsboro — Liao became the first player in county history to win two state championships in his career while maintaining an undefeated record. He went 14-0 in singles and also won the county mixed doubles title with Cami Row. The two-time Herald-Mail player of the year is 37-0 in singles matches at Boonsboro.

Daniel Liu, Jr., Smithsburg — ALiu went 13-5 in singles matches and was a finalist in both the county and 1A West Region II tournaments for the Leopards.

Ben Rankin, Sr., Clear Spring — Rankin went 5-2 in doubles with Dillon Albowicz, reaching the county tournament final. He also went 9-2 in doubles with Blake Bussard.

Dominic Runfola, Sr., South Hagerstown — Runfola went 9-2 in doubles matches with multiple partners for the Rebels.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 65 Washington County high school spring sports boys athletes to watch