Baseball: County pipeline to Towson flowing stronger than ever

Ten Montgomery County products on NCAA Division I Tigers’ roster this spring

Skellchock, a one-time threat on the mound and at the plate at Watkins Mill, left his native Germantown in 2003 for Pfeiffer University (N.C.), but after seven appearances in 55 games as a freshman, the former All-Gazette first-team selection decided to transfer to Towson University.

His arrival seemed to spark a mass gathering of Montgomery County players at the NCAA Division I school as six more players — Quince Orchard’s Eric Weller, Joe Mattes, Matt Collins, Kevin Collins, Gaithersburg’s Austin Hurd and Watkins Mill’s Wes Shifflet — have since joined the team.

Not to mention, Hans Falkenhan (Blake graduate), Brian Conley (Quince Orchard) and Greg Furmanek (Magruder) were already at Towson when Skellchock moved closer to home, making it 10 players from the county on the Tigers’ roster this spring.

‘‘I think it’s a cool experience,” said Skellchock of the reunion of players, a few of whom played together on back-to-back Gaithersburg Post 295 American Legion state championship teams. ‘‘Everybody knows each other so we have good team chemistry.”

Speaking of good, that’s exactly what Skellchock and his former Post 295 teammate and current outfield mate, Conley, have been the past two seasons, especially this spring.

Through last weekend’s series loss to North Carolina-Wilmington, the two former All-Gazette first-team performers had combined for 15 home runs, 14 doubles, 62 runs and 51 runs batted in in 67 combined starts to keep the Tigers (15-21, 7-10 CAA) in contention for a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs.

Skellchock, who batted at a .330 clip a year ago with two home runs and 33 RBI, finished the weekend with a .343 average (48 for 140) with nine doubles, seven home runs (two more than the five career homers he entered the season with) and a team-high 26 RBI.

‘‘I’m pretty much feeling comfortable [at the plate],” said Skellchock, a two-year starter in center field. ‘‘I’m seeing the ball well. That makes it a little easier.”

Conley, the Gazette Player of the Year in 2004, was second on the team in average (.368), first in home runs (8) and second with 25 RBI. He had also scored 27 runs. Not too shabby, considering Conley was forced to learn a new position. After toiling in the infield for much of his career, Conley was moved to right field in the hopes of saving his arm to pitch.

After pitching to a 9.82 earned-run average in four starts, Conley, a lefty hitter but right-handed thrower, has focused solely on his new position.

‘‘It’s an easier transition than going from the outfield to the infield,” Conley said. ‘‘I feel the outfield is not as hard. It took some time getting used to it but we’re 30-some games into the season now.”

Changing roles is nothing new for Conley at Towson. As a freshman, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Finance major was used largely as a defensive replacement late in games, which limited him to just 68 at-bats. With such little work at the plate, Conley, who hit .400 as a senior at Quince Orchard, batted just .191 that year.

Last year, Conley established himself a full-time starter while seeing time at second and third base primarily. The extra time at the plate translated into a much better season – .311 batting average, 10 home runs and 43 RBI.

‘‘My first year, I came in as a defensive replacement when we were winning games and I got a lot of at-bats at the end of the game,” he said. ‘‘After my freshman year, I kind of learned a few things.”

Also faring well from the county are Kevin Collins, a freshman, and Falkenhan, a senior. Collins, who had started 13 of the 28 games he had appeared in, was batting .310 with six RBI and 10 runs, while Falkenhan, a three-year starting infielder, had compiled a .275 batting average with 10 doubles, two home runs and 18 RBI.

Furmanek was mired in a season-long slump, batting just .146 (7 for 48) in 22 games, while Matt Collins had produced a .216 average with a home run and seven RBI.

On the mound, Shifflet had a 2-1 record but his ERA stood at 7.17. Hurd (0-2, 6.56 ERA), Mattes (11.37 ERA) were also struggling a little bit. Mattes comes to Towson after a year at Southeastern Louisiana.

Notes: Montgomery County has long sent players to Towson, though not at the current rate. In fact, two of the best players in Towson history are county products. Sherwood grad Gregg Davies, a four-year starter at first base and center field from 1999-2002, had arguably the best career of any Towson player and is the program’s all-time leader in hits (274), runs scored (195), runs batted in (193), doubles (66), triples (18) and games played (217). He’s second all-time in home runs (40) and third in career batting average (.363). Watkins Mill grad McKenna, a four-year starter at shortstop from 2001-04, ranks first all-time in at-bats (821) and is second to Davies in games played (214), hits (257) and doubles (59). He was a career .313 hitter, 25th-best in Towson history. Both went on to professional careers.