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County products making the grade on college fields

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

The Quince Orchard High baseball program has been one of the most consistently good in the state in recent years, including winning a Class 4A state title last year. One of the offshoots of that success is college scouts know how to find their way to the Gaithersburg school. The result is former Quince Orchard players dot college rosters up and down the East Coast and beyond.

The farthest from home are left-handed pitchers Chris Maloney and Joe Mattes, who currently take the mound for Embry Riddle University (Fla.) and Southeastern Louisiana University, respectively.

Maloney, a 2004 Quince Orchard graduate, had helped his NAIA school to a 40-11 record (through Sunday) by going 4-0 with a 2.07 earned-run average. He had appeared in 15 games with five starts and his innings have gone from 11 2⁄3 as a freshman to 35 through the weekend.

As of Monday, Embry Riddle is in first place in the Florida Sun Conference and is ranked 14th in the country ‘‘but we hope to move up after sweeping the sixth-ranked team this weekend in a three-game series,” Maloney said.

The team’s regional tournament begins May 6 in Daytona Beach when the Eagles look to secure their fifth straight NAIA World Series berth. It fell to Oklahoma City in last year’s championship game.

‘‘The experience is more than I expected,” Maloney added. ‘‘I knew coming down to play baseball in Florida would be a great experience, but I didn’t realize the hard work, sacrifices and dedication it would take. I have great teammates from all over the country and the coaching staff is one of the best I have ever played for.

‘‘I’m enjoying the school very much. It’s not a huge campus but we do have about 6,000 students, and the area couldn’t be better. It’s great being able to take a five-minute drive to the beach on our days off and the weather couldn’t be better.”

Mattes, one of the heroes in Quince Orchard’s 4A state title run a year ago, hasn’t seen much time as freshman but he’s made the most of his two appearances, working a save and 3 1⁄3 scoreless innings of relief. He had struck out five and walked one for Southeastern Louisiana (14-19), an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Southland Conference.

Consuegra, Durfee finishing up careers

Former county stars Danny Consuegra (Damascus) and Russell Durfee (Springbrook) will conclude their college careers at St. Vincent (Pa.) and Duke (N.C.), respectively, this spring after having their junior campaigns cut short by injury.

Consuegra, a senior middle infielder, was having yet another solid offensive year (.320, 16 RBI) before a hand injury in early April of 2005 brought his season to an end. He’s picked right back up where he left off, batting .407 (44 for 108) with two home runs, 29 RBI, seven doubles and 17 runs scored through Sunday for St. Vincent, an NAIA program. Last week against Juniata (Pa.), Consuegra collected his 172nd career hit, breaking the school’s career record.

Durfee, a senior pitcher, saw action in just one game last season, allowing two runs on two hits in an inning of work. He was shut down most of the season because of shoulder surgery. So far this spring, the hard-throwing right-hander had appeared in four games and 4 1⁄3 innings, allowing 13 runs on 13 hits for the Blue Devils (12-29 through Sunday).

Cougars here, there and everywhere

Other former Cougars logging college innings at the NCAA Division I level are 2004 Gazette Player of the Year Brian Conley (Towson), Matt Collins (Towson), Tommy Johnson (Marshall) and Justin Handler (La Salle).

Conley, a sophomore third baseman, has completely reversed course from a sluggish freshman year that saw him bat .191, while serving mainly as a late-inning defensive substitution. This year, as a full-time starter he’s hit .321 (43 for 134) with nine home runs, 31 runs batted in, 32 runs scored and 11 stolen bases through Saturday.

His Towson teammate, Collins, who helped Conley and Gaithersburg Post 295 win back-to-back Maryland State American Legion titles, was batting .241 in 21 games after taking a redshirt season as a freshman. The speedy outfield had made 12 starts for the Tigers (12-26 through Saturday).

Johnson started the season on the bench, missing the first 19 games because of an injury, but he has returned to bat .421 (8 for 19) with a home run and eight RBI in nine games for Marshall (16-16 through Sunday). He marked his return by going 4 for 6 with a three-run home run in a doubleheader against James Madison (Va.).

As a freshman, the sophomore catcher batted .308 with nine doubles and 26 RBI in 43 games, including 32 starts.

Handler, a freshman shortstop, slid into a starting position this season and through Saturday, he was batting .213 (27 for 127) with three doubles and 10 RBI for Philadelphia’s La Salle (13-20).

Towson: a Montgomery County enclave

Towson University has become a county all-star team with the inclusion of former All-Gazette selections Greg Furmanek (Magruder High graduate), Kyle Skellchock (Watkins Mill), Hans Falkenhan (Blake) and Austin Hurd (Gaithersburg) to go along with Conley and Collins.

Furmanek, a sophomore first baseman, had appeared in 25 games, including 21 starts, and had compiled a .301 batting average with three home runs and 20 RBI through Saturday. Skellchock, a junior outfielder, was hitting .291 (43 for 148) with a pair of home runs, 15 doubles and 21 RBI.

Falkenhan, a three-year starter as a junior infielder, had a .268 batting average with 26 runs scored, 10 doubles, three homers and 12 RBI, while Hurd, a freshman pitcher, had compiled a 1-3 record with a 8.13 ERA in nine appearances, including four starts.

Marshall brothers leading Richmond

Brothers Ian and Benji Marshall, a pair of Gaithersburg graduates, have fared well in their first year at Richmond.

Benji, a junior who transferred in from Montgomery College-Germantown, had earned 22 starts with 28 total appearances (through Saturday) and had produced a .250 batting average (21 for 84) with 21 runs scored and five stolen bases.

Ian, a freshman pitcher who was selected in the 14th round by the New York Mets during last year’s Major League Baseball draft, had a 1-2 record and an 11.41 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 23 2⁄3 innings. He had made four starts among seven appearances.