Seven county baseball players make All-State team

The Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches recently announced its 2013 Preseason All-State team and it includes Riverdale Baptist’s Taylor Bloom, Chase Brewis and Matt McPherson; Bishop McNamara’s Connor Hax and Taylor Stiles; and DeMatha Catholic’s Bradley Keith and Justin Morris.

Bloom was The Gazette Player of the Year as a sophomore last spring, going 11-0 with a 0.87 earned run average on the mound while also batting .408 with 54 runs batted in. McPherson was also a first team All-Gazette selection, batting .340 with 67 stolen bases and 48 runs.

Brewis, Morris and Stiles received second team All-Gazette honors a year ago; Hax, a left-handed pitcher/first baseman/outfielder, is coming off a strong summer campaign that included being named to the Maryland Futures squad and to the Big 26 Baseball Classic.

Morris batted .304 with 18 RBI and seven doubles as a sophomore. Brewis batted .374 with 36 stolen bases at the plate and 4-0 with three saves and a 0.54 ERA on the mound last season.

— James Peters