16U Spartans Finish Excellent Summer Season

Severna Park High School’s varsity baseball program has enjoyed sustained success over the past four years, and a significant link in the chain is the Severna Park 16U Spartans summer tournament team.

This year’s 16U Spartans were primarily rising high school sophomores aged 14 and 15, and they still excelled against older competition, going 17-5 overall over a handful of tournaments.

Severna Park’s roster of Craig Johnson, Ben Horgan, Robert Weaver, Drew Crowley, Tom McGalliard, Sean Foreman, Connor Eaton, Jack Youngblood, Nick Marsella, Nick Carparelli, James Ford, John Creps, Luke Herz, Johnny Belfiore, Dom Hall, Daniel Parkison and Greg Tacyn was led by head coach Dave Ferris (head JV baseball coach at Severna Park) and assistant coaches Joe Zimmerman (JV baseball head coach at Spalding) and Jim Christy, giving the team the rare asset of three summer coaches with high school experience.

“Considering how young we were, the kids played extremely well,” said Ferris. “The future for SPHS baseball looks bright.”

A slew of players put up big offensive numbers for the Spartans, who averaged over 10 runs per game while hitting .365 as a team with a .496 on-base percentage. Weaver (.511 batting average, 24 runs), Horgan (.408) and Marsella (.338, 24 runs) were particularly effective hitting at the top of the lineup, while Tacyn, Carparelli, Creps, Herz, Marsella, Crowley, Horgan, Johnson, Foreman, Weaver and McGalliard all had double-digit RBIs.

Catching duties were rotated and handled well by Crowley, Herz and Johnson, while the pitching staff, led by Carparelli, Parkison, Creps, Tacyn, Ford, Marsella, Weaver, Herz and Foreman, pitched effectively throughout the year. The players rotated roles and positions to develop their versatility and allow for maximum roster flexibility.

Memorable highlights included two come-from-behind, walk-off wins at a tournament in Fruitland, the second coming on a two-out single by Tacyn.

“The coaches would like to thank the kids for their dedication in playing throughout the summer, and all the parents for their tremendous support, including Michelle Horgan and Judy Tacyn, for handling many administrative duties throughout the year,” said Ferris. “All the kids improved their skills, we won a few games, but most of all, we had a lot of fun.”