Meiners makes county's fifth MLB draftee
A roundup of the week in summer baseball
The recent Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft actually tabbed five Montgomery County players, not four, as originally reported.
Silver Spring native Jeremiah Meiners, who attended Good Counsel before finishing his high school career at St. Albans (D.C.), was selected in the 40th round by the Houston Astros.
Meiners, a left-handed pitcher, has already signed with the Astros and has been assigned to the Gulf Coast League Astros. He played for Coastal Carolina (S.C.) University in 2007 and '08. The 6-foot, 195-pounder then transferred to Francis Marion (S.C.) University, a Division II school, where he compiled a combined 12-4 record as a weekend pitcher the past two springs.
Meiners compiled a 6-2 record with a 5.37 earned-run average this spring and helped Francis Marion (40-14) reach NCAA tournament play each season.
- Former Sherwood High and Montgomery College-Germantown second baseman John Wagner was selected as the NJCAA 2010 Rawlins Gold Glove award winner for his sterling performance this spring. He was also named a first team NJCAA All-American after leading the Gryphons (31-21) back to the NJCAA Division III World Series.
Wagner finished the season with a .383 batting average, six home runs, 33 runs batted in, 60 runs, 17 doubles, three triples, 14 stolen bases and a .479 on-base percentage as the team's leadoff batter. He also had a .973 fielding percentage with seven errors in 363 innings.
He will play on scholarship at Division I Presbyterian (S.C.) College.
- Wagner's MC-G teammates Sam Bender (Wootton) and Matt Civetti (Clarksburg) will play for Nebraska and Palm Beach Atlantic, respectively, on scholarship next year. Bender, a third-team NJCAA Division III All-American, received an academic scholarship to Nebraska and a spot on the team's roster.
- Sandy Spring Post 68 finished last week with an 11-3 record behind an explosive offense (107 runs) and stingy pitching staff. Five players Jimmy Belfont, Harris Fanaroff, Ian Velez, Kevin Stein and Carl Parm were batting .450 or better. Velez, Belfont, Fanaroff, Stephen Bonser and Zack Lawhorn have produced ERAs of 3.80 or lower.
- Gaithersburg Post 104 (3-7) dropped all five of its games last week, including a pair to rival Gaithersburg Post 295. Post 104 scored severn runs Sunday, but struggled offensively with three or fewer in the other four losses while allowing six or more runs in five games.