St. Mary’s named the former Navy baseball coach its new athletic director on Tuesday, though his role will officially begin on July 30. He takes over for Tom Smith, who led the St. Mary’s athletic department for the 2024-25 school year but recently took a job in South Carolina. Saints football coach Jason Budroni served as interim athletic director for the second significant chunk of time in two years.

“I’m excited as I’ve ever been to take something on,” Kostacopoulos said. “I’ve loved my career. I’ve loved coaching. This [opportunity] presented itself at exactly the right time.”

The hire brings the 60-year-old back into prominence in local athletics more than two years after Kostacopoulos retired as the second-winningest coach in Midshipmen baseball history. In 34 years at the helm, Kostacopoulos, nicknamed “Kosty,” amassed 1,027 wins — 523 of which were at Terwilliger Brothers Field. Only 92 coaches in NCAA baseball history have surpassed 1,000.

The five-time Patriot League Coach of the Year led Navy to two conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths in 2011 and 2016 while also competing in six league championships. He also ushered 16 players to All-America honors and three to get drafted by Major League Baseball teams.

“Paul’s exceptional background and his philosophy on providing a culture that fosters the growth of young people — physically, mentally, and emotionally — impressed the selection committee,” said interim president of St. Mary’s School Deacon Leroy Moore in a news release. “His impressive experience working with young athletes will provide the leadership to help foster the values of St. Mary’s parish and school and continue the rich tradition of competitive athletic teams.”

The relationship between the U.S. Naval Academy and St. Mary’s High runs deep, not only because of the half-mile distance between the two campuses and the fact that Saints athletes regularly exchange their royal blue for Navy blue upon graduation, especially in football and lacrosse. St. Mary’s last longtime athletic director of almost a decade, Allison Fondale, previously served as an assistant coach for Navy women’s lacrosse for seven years.

Though he’s not an Anne Arundel County local, Kostacopoulos hails from an area just as rooted in community, sports and Catholicism — New England. He piled up accolades in his home region, too, over his years coaching his alma mater Providence and Maine from 1990 to 2005. Back then, he was the youngest Division I coach in the nation at age 25, just a few years out of college. Now, his name sits in the Hall of Fame in four regions – Maryland State Baseball, Middletown Connecticut Sports, Providence College Athletic and State of Maine Baseball.

Kostacopoulos fell for the history he found when he walked through St. Mary’s heavy wooden doors, as well as its devotion to faith that matched his own.

“I love the potential there,” he said.

The new athletic director assumes the reins at a transformative time for St. Mary’s. The school just refinished its secondary field on Bestgate Road into a 70-yard turf practice facility. On July 7, the St. Mary’s Parish also purchased the property down the street from its athletic fields from Annapolis Area Christian School for $8.5 million. AACS will continue to use it as its middle school for the 2025-2026 school year, but after that, all nine acres and 40,000 square feet of building is all the Saints’.

That’s not all that’s changing at St. Mary’s, either.

Both boys basketball and field hockey programs have been promoted to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conferences, joining girls basketball, football, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse on the upper tier. Field hockey recently claimed back-to-back B Conference titles in 2023 and 2024, while basketball recently took its pair in 2022 and 2023 before competing as an associate in the hallowed Baltimore Catholic League last winter.

That transition isn’t easy for any program. After years of domination in the B Conference, a young Saints football team suffered an 0-10 season in 2024. Girls basketball only just began to show it could weather the better teams last winter after going undefeated in the B Conference two years ago. Boys swimming climbed to the A Conference in 2020, but the subsequent pandemic season curbed its chances of remaining.

Kostacopoulos knows as well as anyone who’s been in Annapolis for an extended period of time just how good the MIAA and IAAM A Conference is. His role, he said, is to provide as much support as he can to those programs and those coaches.

“Fundamentally, that’s the most important part of the athletic department,” he said. “Buildings are buildings, schedules are schedules, but coaches matter. Keeping the continuity of our veteran coaches, helping the younger coaches and building a synergy with the whole staff is so important. We’re fortunate to have so many good ones.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

Three years later, Jackson’s flush with esteemed offers from Division I powers — and glad he stuck with the Panthers.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder with an 82-inch wingspan enters his third high school season with a haul of offers that most other kids could only dream of receiving. Georgia, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Auburn and Penn State headline the lineup, along with Maryland, Duke, Nebraska, Tennessee and others.

ESPN ranks the edge rusher as the No. 196 overall 2027 prospect. 247Sports’ composite rankings already place the rising junior at four stars.

“He’s explosive and very quick. He’s long and putting on more weight. And he’s only 15 years old,” Annapolis coach Dewayne Hunt said. “The upside of his potential is through the roof, and clearly coaches see that.”

Needless to say, Jackson’s disappointed quite a few private schools that’ve reached out this summer, but jumping ship is not in his makeup. He knows a player willing to devote four years to a single program is an endangered species, from college down to youth ball.

During visits to Annapolis, multiple college coaches offered praise for Jackson’s loyalty before anything else, he said.

“People proclaim Annapolis as a ‘bad school.’ There’s nothing bad about it. It’s no different than any other school,” Jackson said. “Coach Hunt stayed down with me since the beginning. So I’m going to stay down with him.”

Hunt always read the potential in Jackson’s long limbs and height while he competed for Cape Youth Football. The coach told the young player that if he worked hard, he could be an All-American. Then, he relegated the freshman to junior varsity to shape his “raw talent.”

Jackson “didn’t have nothing but a smile” on his face, putting in his hours in the JV uniform. When varsity called him up for a 2023 playoff game against Dundalk, Hunt knew Jackson was ready. You could “see it in his eyes.”

“I just knew something was going to happen,” Jackson said.

He made that “something” happen. In his sophomore preseason, Jackson served on the scout team for defense and found his way onto the field however he could: running with the kickoff, playing second-string tight end. He wanted to prove to his team he could be solid anywhere, not just in his natural position backing the defensive line.

The Panthers coaches picked Jackson over a senior for a starting spot by the first regular season game.

“The work ethic he came into the summer with made him better, a student of the game,” Hunt said. “He had talent and athleticism, but now he understands it.”

Jackson recorded four tackles for loss and the game-winning tackle on fourth down to secure Annapolis’ first victory over Old Mill in decades. Then in mid-October, Jackson made history again when he secured his Panthers’ narrow triumph over Class 4A power Broadneck.

Quarterback CJ Watkins had his Bruins on Annapolis’ 30 with less than a minute left. On third down, Jackson sprang off his rush to catch a Broadneck offensive lineman and failed.

“He had me, so I locked him out and jumped up. That’s what I resort to because I do have a lot of bat downs,” Jackson said.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore leapt before Watkins and batted his pass attempt down.

“I was running around, hype, but I looked back to make sure I didn’t get a flag for taunting,” Jackson said with a smile. “I knew, after that game, I’d be getting a call from somebody.”

He finished the fall with 50 total tackles, 16 for loss, as well as nine sacks, nine pass breakups, a forced fumble and 13 deflections.

Morgan State arrived to offer another Panther, or so Jackson thought.

“The work,” Jackson said, “was finally paying off.”

Hunt spread praise of Jackson around the county, but compared against older players, his accomplishments were largely underrated. Anne Arundel public school coaches consigned him to their 2024 Second Team All-County list instead of First Team. He failed to make the Capital Gazette 2024 Football All-County teams, too.

Hunt got the sense people locally didn’t believe in his prospect. But in the spring, sentiments began to shift — because college coaches did.

Annapolis football posted a picture of Jackson on Maryland’s SECU Stadium field, shortly after the Terps offered the sophomore in mid-February. The defensive end took his official visit to College Park later in late April — a pin all over the map he’d spent the late spring and early summer traveling.

“That one got me,” Jackson said of the Terps’ offer. “I just really try to take it all in and be as humble as I can be. I know what I have, there’s a million other kids striving for it. I gotta keep my head down and grind.”

Jackson doesn’t bring up his offers to anyone. If someone asks about one, he’ll confirm and say little else. All he’s focused on now is bettering himself for his junior season, sharpening his drop-in and his pass-rush game.

“I’m gonna show the same thing I showed last season but 10 times better. This season’s gonna be a movie,” Jackson said. “I’m ready.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

By the end of it, she was a first-team All-County selection in soccer and basketball, served a key role in South River’s state championship basketball run, and earned an unlikely starting spot on a competitive Seahawks lacrosse squad, despite having retired from the sport years ago. She was also one of 13 student-athletes in the United States named a Green Award recipient by Lead ‘Em Up, a national program meant to teach leadership and build character in athletics.

One more award – the Capital Gazette 2024-25 girls high school Athlete of the Year – follows her to Frostburg State women’s basketball.

“She’s a kid that, you see her play, you’re gonna instantly love watching her,” South River girls basketball coach Michael Zivic said. “That was the biggest thing when we played Oxon Hill, we’re in Prince George’s County where they’re known for basketball. I can’t tell you how many people were coming up to me after the game to tell us we’re they’re new favorite team because of players like her.”

An ACL tear during Ogle’s sophomore basketball season stole not only a promising season, but pivotal development and recruitment months as a junior, too. She still wonders what could have been had she stayed healthy.

The fear of suffering a season-ending injury again threatened to cloud Ogle’s convictions for her last year. Basketball, her main sport, was never in question. Everything else?

“A lot of stuff went through my head, like, ‘Should I not play soccer?’ And at the end of the day, I just wanted to have fun,” Ogle said. “I didn’t want to regret or miss anything. And I think it was really good for me. Soccer built my confidence going into basketball.”

South River soccer coach Christine Flanagan reckons a junior season sidelined gave Ogle a chance to absorb the entire field – and, in turn, expand her abilities. It would’ve been easy to confuse Ogle, a forward, for a midfielder. She hung back 10 yards, fooling defenders into thinking she wasn’t a threat. She proved how wrong they were with nine goals and nine assists.

“There’s so much footage of her not being looked at and then just flying through,” Flanagan said. “She’s little, so defenders think they can just push her off the ball. And she’s so physical that she’s a huge threat, and that’s why she was our top scorer and assists leader.”

South River might have ruled county girls basketball without Ogle, but it does not capture its first state title without her. The point guard grabbed 4.1 steals per game and averaged around nine points, capping her career with 600 points, 400 assists and 400 steals. In the final quarter of the 3A state championship on March 14, Ogle sparked the lopsided scoring against Oakland Mills, 21-5, to ensure her team’s title.

“It took her some time to get her sea legs – or her ‘ACL legs’ – after coming back her junior year,” Zivic said. “I thought this year she got back to being her normal self.”

In years past, the Anne Arundel County Senior All-Star Basketball Classic might’ve been her final athletic performance for South River. But her longtime teammate, Adella Norton, wouldn’t stop pestering her to pick up a lacrosse stick again.

Knowing AAU basketball was her main path to recruitment, Ogle gave up her third sport before high school. But with her commitment locked, there was no reason to forgo another experience. Within weeks of the spring season, Ogle earned a starting role, predominantly as a defender and an aide on the wings of the draw circle.

“That’s where I really found my spark,” Ogle said. “I’m more of a physical player and in lacrosse, you have to stand in front of them and be just be big.”

Ogle may not have to give it up, either.

She’s bringing all of her pesky stealing and scoring abilities to Frostburg State women’s basketball next season, though she may be allowed to play lacrosse, too.

“I borrowed my coach’s lacrosse stick because mine was bad. And when I tried to give it back at the end of the season, she told me to keep it: ‘I want you to keep it and try to play wherever you go.’”

Ogle tried to remind South River girls lacrosse coach Annie Martin that she was college basketball-bound.

“She said, ‘Try anyway,’” Ogle said. “And you never know.”

Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

McDuffie’s prowess on a basketball court suggested early into his varsity career what the Seahawk’s future might entail. Now, the rising senior has made it clear he’s forging a different path.

Long before McDuffie unveiled his commitment to Northwestern football in late May, his heart walked the road toward college football. He remembers watching former South River quarterback David Foust shepherding an underdog troupe to an unlikely, historic season in 2019. Even as Spalding courted him as an eighth grader a couple years later and suited him up for a season, the thought of what his hometown had accomplished lingered.

“I felt like I had a bigger purpose,” McDuffie said, “going to a school where I feel like I could make an impact on anybody’s lives. I could come here and turn our program around.”

After this past season, the Capital Gazette 2024-25 boys high school Athlete of the Year may be on that verge – if he hasn’t done it already.

Private school players are flocking back to South River ahead of this fall season, including Mount Saint Joseph quarterback Ben Raines and Capital Gazette 2024 first-team All-County football selection Zack Philpott, a defensive tackle from Spalding.

It’s clear to see the kind of impact McDuffie had been hoping for. As a junior, South River tailored its offense to find him and he set program records for single-season receptions and yards. By November, McDuffie amassed 1,251 yards on 73 catches and 17 touchdowns.

Rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports, McDuffie began revealing his first Division I offers late last year, including Navy and Temple. Northwestern gilded McDuffie with Power Four potential on April 24.

“Going from 5-foot-11 to almost 6-foot-4, that helps a little bit,” Erxleben said. “But I think Jaden’s No. 1 trait is that he’s never high or low. If we’re struggling or up by 60, he’s the same person and leader.”

His commitment to basketball never waivered, and it’s no surprise. His family’s influence made him that way – his mother, Amanda Giddings, played at UMBC and helps coach the AAU team South River Shooters. Basketball was McDuffie’s first love.

He assumed it would ultimately be the sport he continued too, despite how much he was developing on the gridiron.

Though he made second team All-County as a defensive back in 2023, his notoriety on the hardwood grew as he helped guide the Seahawks to its first county championship title as a sophomore and first region title as a junior. He earned spots on All-County teams and led the county in scoring until an untimely injury – a hard in-game collision last January – which he eventually returned from. He ended the season with 17 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals per game, racking up 62 blocks.

Balance isn’t just what makes McDuffie a special player to Seahawks basketball coach Darren Hall, but the subtle finesse with which he does it. He and his staff often find themselves combing over the stat book at game’s end, puzzled: “When did he do all that?”

“On any given night, Jaden can dominate a game in so many categories,” Hall said. “Things that don’t even show up in the stat line, like his ability to impact passes. His length and his athleticism with his timing will force teams to have to lob the ball to get it to where they want to go, and it gives our guys time to recover.

“He’s an underrated passer with great vision, and he puts guys in a position to be successful.”

For a time, McDuffie “put all his eggs” into basketball recruiting. He devoted his offseason to it, even told Hall he’d considered dropping football before his junior season. Hall told him it’d be a shame.

“I probably changed my mind 20 million times, going back and forth between two sports,” he said.

It wasn’t just his historic success last fall that directed McDuffie one way. The rapidly growing population of adults with multiple colleges on their resumes have made schools at all levels more inaccessible to high school athletes. Compound that with a sport like basketball, with a puny roster compared to football, and the idea of making it as a big-time college hooper looks more like a pipe dream to even accomplished varsity players. If you’re not a “freak of nature with crazy speed,” McDuffie explained, the basketball opportunities are “slim.”

When he informed Hall he’d landed with football, all the South River coach asked was, “Are you able to play your senior year?”

“Nothing that Jaden has accomplished surprises me one bit,” Hall said. “I’m just really happy for him.”

Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

A record-setting rookie season withered into a subdued start for the Randallstown native at the top of this season. She was playing her physical, downhill offense, she said, but she just didn’t trust it enough to be patient.

“I had to keep telling myself the storm doesn’t last forever,” Reese said.

A second straight WNBA All-Star Game invitation was her reward amid a near-flawless six-game stretch for the St. Frances graduate and former Baltimore Sun All-Metro girls basketball Player of the Year. It’s Reese’s offense that fans have been waiting for — and lately, it’s been her offense that’s propelled the Sky to competitive contests. Although winning games has been difficult to come by for Reese and Chicago (5-13), which has the second-worst record in the 13-team league, she had a game-high 22 points on just nine shots, 15 rebounds and four assists in a last-second 81-79 loss to the Washington Mystics at EagleBank Arena in a matinee Tuesday.

Reese, who leads the WNBA in rebounds per game (12.8) by a wide margin, has started coming into her own offensively. Including Tuesday, she’s averaging 17.8 points across her past six games, over five more than her season average (12.6 ppg).

“We’re a better team when she’s aggressive offensively,” Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said, “and we look forward to her continuing to do that.”

Her most envied skills never wavered, and they’re getting stronger, still. Reese leads the league in every rebounding category. She quickly etched her name into league history against the Minnesota Lynx on July 6 when she pulled down 17 boards, her fifth straight game with 15 or more. No other WNBA player has ever been able to claim the same, nor even a double-digit rebound average this season.

It’s why Marsh considers her “one of the best to ever do it,” crediting a knack for tracking the ball and carving out a presence for herself under the net.

“She makes up her mind she’s going to get that basketball,” the Sky coach said, “and there’s not a lot that people or teams can do about it.”

This time last year, Reese broke former WNBA star Candace Parker’s consecutive double-double streak of 13 and padded another two just to secure it. She stacked 27 total before a fractured wrist in September ended her rookie season early.

She wasn’t quite where she wanted to be in May and early June. Not until the Sky visited the Connecticut Sun on June 15 did Reese feel the storm pass. She logged her first triple-double — 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

“The sun don’t always shine when you want it to,” she said, “but it definitely peeks out at the right time.”

Part of the struggles were born, understandably, from a remade roster just figuring out how to work with each other. The Sky rely even more on their second-season star, giving the former Maryland and LSU star the chance to put her range on display from perimeter to transition to high and low post. The 6-foot-3 forward made a name for herself years ago attacking downhill, luring defenders to her to hit an open teammate — and increase her overall assists — or overpowering them herself. After averaging 1.9 assists per game as a rookie, she’s increased that mark to 3.9 in 2025.

As a rookie, Reese strained against double-teams, which she said is all she ever gets. In practice, Sky coaches send two players at her, and she’s found over time that she’s working her way around it.

“I just trust my worth,” Reese said. “Struggled early on but didn’t make any excuses. Just put my head down and grinded.”

It’s done “wonders” for the Sky offense as a whole, Marsh said, and she’s finally settling in as a leader, no matter if she has the ball or not. On Tuesday, Reese could be seen giving orders, directing teammates into plays and battling into some of the physical skirmishes in the post. She plays off veterans, such as forward Elizabeth Williams (in her 11th season), as if she had a decade’s experience, too.

“Angel motivates through her passion to compete, her passion to win,” Marsh said. “She brings it nightly, and it’s contagious.”

She’s been a leader in nonstatistical areas, too.

Following Chicago’s 80-75 loss to the Lynx on Sunday, Reese told reporters (and later posted on X) that she is “tired” of missed calls by officials and that the league needs to “DO BETTER.”

Frustrations rolled over into Fairfax, 62 miles from her hometown and 36 from her first college stop in College Park. Reese encouraged a coach’s challenge with 29.9 seconds, which the Sky ultimately lost. Then, just after Reese tied the score at 79, she went for a block against the Mystics’ Shakira Austin with 2.8 seconds remaining and was called for the foul. Williams sank both free throws, the difference in the game.

Reese claimed ownership for the loss; the team as a whole needed to box out more, and 15 rebounds “wasn’t enough.” But she did not let the officials’ choice go unchecked.

“Refs make calls that they know are not right,” she said, “and they’ll look back and know that wasn’t the right call.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

Here’s the Capital Gazette All-County teams:

All-County first team

Brynn Bilnoski, Severna Park, freshman

Finishing No. 2 to Mellynchuk in the girls singles county championships primed Bilnoski for what could be the beginning of a dominant varsity career. The Falcon cruised through the Class 3A East Region before going on to claim her first Class 3A girls singles title over Riya Rai (Mt. Hebron), 6-3, 6-4. She also helped Severna Park place third overall in the class.

Hadley Crooks, Broadneck, junior

One half of the Class 4A girls doubles championship pairing, Crooks secured silver, sweeping the state quarterfinals and going 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals. She also earned the girls doubles county title in dominant fashion, 6-0, 6-0. She notably beat South River, Severna Park and Crofton in the regular season as well.

Gigi Garner, Broadneck, sophomore

The other half of the Class 4A girls doubles finals duo, Garner aided Crooks in shutting down a Leonardtown pair to claim the 4A East Region title, 6-2, 6-2, just one week after joining Crooks for gold in the county tournament. She earned regular season wins over Severna Park and Crofton, too.

Gavin Gerard, Severna Park, junior

The boys singles county champion, who went 7-0 in-season, rode the high of helping bring down his team’s fiercest rival in Broadneck as one half of the No. 1 boys doubles pairing. He then joined mixed doubles county champion Carys Preston to carve through the Class 3A East Region bracket and take silver at the state level.

Luke Holmes, Key, senior

The Obezags’ No. 1 singles seed returned from an overseas career to help lead Key to its first appearance in the MIAA B final. He accrued a 5-1 conference mark, and finished runner-up in the individual tournament.

Anissa Jean-Claude, Broadneck, junior

With Eliot Martin, Jean-Claude battled to the finals of the Anne Arundel county mixed doubles bracket, falling just short their Severna Park rivals. She shook it off for the region, gliding to the Class 4A East Region mixed doubles title alongside Ryan Sar, before earning the silver medal in the state tournament.

Colin King, Severna Park, junior

King earned second place in the Anne Arundel county championships boys singles final behind his own teammate, Gerard. Overall, he carried an 11-1 season record and went 4-for-5 in the county bracket. He stepped aside so that a senior could compete in the state tournament.

Connor Pietris, Severna Park, senior

Before continuing on to the University of Tampa, Pietris concluded his varsity career as a Class 3A East state quarterfinalist in the boys singles bracket. Before then, he took down Crofton, Chesapeake and South River opponents to earn the 3A East Region title and previously joined Carys Preston to capture the county championship mixed doubles title. He went 11-0 in-season.

Carys Preston, Severna Park, senior

The Wake Forest-bound senior’s conquering run with Gerard settled in heartbreak as the duo battled to a third-set tiebreak in the Class 4A mixed doubles championship but fell just short, 10-8. Nevertheless, her season included a county championship title as one half of the mixed doubles team with Pietris. She also recorded an 8-1 regular season mark.

Ryan Sar, Broadneck, junior

As a singles competitor, Sar took bronze in the Anne Arundel county championship, beating Crofton’s Pablo Crenshaw in the consolation match. But when he joined Jean-Claude for the region and state tournaments, the two were nearly unstoppable, journeying to the finals of the Class 4A mixed doubles bracket. In the regular season, he claimed a tiebreak set over Severna Park.

James Stubbs, Indian Creek, senior

Stubbs put on what coach Ryan Andrews deemed his best ever performance to beat Glenelg Country’s Nathan Wang in the MIAA C Conference team final at No. 3 singles. The senior then went on to claim the MIAA individual title at No. 3 singles a mere four days later.

All-County second team

Koby Bragg, Severna Park, junior

Emily Brandts, Chesapeake, junior

Henry Cukor, Broadneck, freshman

Kekoa Hamilton, Broadneck, junior

Tea Ivovic, South River, sophomore

Ty Maddox, Severna Park, junior

Connor Mastermarco, Indian Creek, senior

Kiery Matkins, Chesapeake, junior

Ofundem Mbelem, Indian Creek, sophomore

Naloni Mfume, Meade, senior

Charlie Tator, Indian Creek, freshman

All-County honorable mention

Crofton: Pablo Crenshaw, Tommy Lazo, Josh Oh, Noah Tiechert. Glen Burnie: Bryal Djigne. Key: Matei Dean, Scott Sabean. North County: Carson Graham. South River: Natalie Teague, Nathan Willoughby.

This was the same player who lifted the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference tennis plaque a week earlier – the one Schaefer and his underdog Key team coveted – by beating Schaefer.

The junior didn’t hold his first defeat in his heart too heavily. Boys’ Latin swept the Obezags to claim its third consecutive title and ascend to the A Conference. What did tick Schaefer was losing the first set of the MIAA individual semifinals. Instead of trying to improve upon his and his coach’s strategy, though, the Key junior pivoted.

“Instead of picking on a part of him, I was really trying to focus on myself, what I was doing well, and use that to my advantage,” Schaefer said.

No emotions, Schaefer instructed himself. Whether he wins or loses a point, “just walk back.” Highs and lows can trap him, the junior explained: highs, like leading the Obezags to an unprecedented turnaround season (12-3) and its first championship appearance. Lows, by realizing he could’ve spoken up more as an older player to support his teammates before their devastation in the team championship.

He recalled his coach, William Rogers, and the advice he gave him: Pick up his footwork, move around the court, trade an emphasis on his own backhand for his forehand.

After the 7-6 first-set loss, Schaefer rallied back and downed Holder. He next swept Park’s Jonah Mogul in straight sets for the MIAA B No. 2 singles individual title – the crown on a 16-1 season for the Capital Gazette 2025 Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

“We would count on him to win every time,” Rogers said. “It was pretty amazing.”

Schaefer earned the No. 2 singles spot in Key’s lineup after a preliminary one-on-one matchup with teammate Luke Holmes. Then, he quickly proved himself worthy of a No. 1 seed.

No one, even Holder, could handle Schaefer in the regular season. On April 25 – Key’s first match with Boys’ Latin – Holder claimed the initial set, 6-4, just for Schaefer to rally back, 6-3, in the second, and win a 10-point tiebreak, 10-5, in the third. He was Key’s only win that day.

“Morgan does a great job of knowing what he’s not good at,” Rogers said, “and taking advice from coaches to work on it. He spent the whole season improving his backhand and serve.”

He always felt the weight of the team looming. Rogers reckons there were important matches, like the MIAA B team semifinals against Friends, that Key doesn’t win if Schaefer falls.

It didn’t feel so heavy in his freshman year, when Schaefer casually swung the racket with no college plans in mind. When that changed, though, so did his ability to block pressure out.

He dedicated the offseason to training more aggressively and at higher levels. He practiced heavily with Rogers and his private coach, Robert Nuscher at Sports Fit Bowie. Every match, every tournament mattered. But Schaefer approached them the same as he does now.

Like he’s going to win. And then, he does.

“It’s definitely gotten more challenging,” Schaefer said, “but I think, at the moment, I’m playing pretty well.”

Broadneck’s Mellynchuk four-time girls Player of the Year

Broadneck senior Olivia Mellynchuk could certainly say the same after what she’s done.

Ever since the championship match of her freshman season, no one could bring Mellynchuk down, including in three Class 4A girls singles finals.

“I can’t believe it went by so fast,” she said.

Thus ends the most dominant career a tennis player will likely ever have in Anne Arundel County, a journey that changed very little for the four-time Capital Gazette girls tennis Player of the Year. But inwardly, Mellynchuk transformed.

Former Broadneck coach Kathleen Perrotta affectionately dubbed her ace as a “spitfire” in 2022, though off the court, the little freshman appeared very shy.

The outgoing senior that shepherded a new era of Broadneck tennis toward yet another team state title in May would no longer be described that way.

“Having a leadership role,” she said, “and using my voice was my responsibility as a senior captain.”

It was important to Mellynchuk to maintain the Broadneck standard. While so many nationally ranked players disappear into tennis academies and private, online schools, Mellynchuk vowed to lead her team through high school. Of course, a team she thinks of as “fun” and “one big family” certainly didn’t make that a hard decision for her.

She fulfilled her promise, leading the Bruins to three consecutive state crowns.

And she ended her varsity legacy, funnily enough, by travelling back to her own beginnings.

Poised on the other side of the court of the 4A girls singles championship match was Winston Churchill senior Lily Ganjbaksh. Mellynchuk flashed back to all the times she battled the Potomac native in 12-and-under and 10-and-under USTA Junior tournaments, and not to mention last year’s semifinals as well.

Mellynchuk remained calm and collected as she beat Ganjbaksh, 6-2, 6-2.

While it seemed like no one could really challenge Mellynchuk, she said Broadneck steeled her for any and all she could face. The United States Military Academy and Army tennis will certainly give her that.

“I’m excited,” the future Black Knight said, “to take it on.”

Key’s William Rogers is Coach of the Year

Rogers took the reins of a team that plummeted to 1-6 in the MIAA B Conference in 2024 – a result largely dependent on uncertain leadership. The 24-year-old coach quickly proved he was the opposite of that.

Key conquered all but champion Boys’ Latin in the B Conference this spring, garnering a 6-1 regular season league mark. The Obezags dispatched every single other Anne Arundel County private school team, too.

Rogers led Key through its narrowest victories too, finishing 5-1 in one-point matches.

“I’m pretty proud of what we accomplished,” Rogers said, “and I felt like they just worked really hard throughout this year to do it.”

The first-year coach instilled that culture. No one ever missed varsity practice while some would even arrive early and stay late to improve. Rogers and his assistant Stacy Rokus worked tirelessly with players to develop backhands, volleys and so on, and were wise to rework the doubles pairings later in the season to pair Scott Sabean and Matei Dean into a dominant combo.

Rogers said he used “100 years’ experience” of all the professional and varsity coaches he studied under and learned from, including but not limited to his former high school coach, St. Mary’s Diane Williams, and longtime North Carolina women’s coach Brian Kalbas, who he worked for.

“It’s what inspired me to coach,” he said, “and it was great to be able to pass on all their knowledge to the kids.”

Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

Typically, there’s not a lot to see before a baseball game, but at least half of the sellout crowd of about 41,000 were seated two hours before first pitch Saturday evening, feasting on festivities that the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball put on for the crowd.

Let that be a warning to anyone attending the Savannah Bananas’ tour stop at Camden Yards on Aug. 1 and 2: If you plan to arrive for first pitch, you’ve already missed half the show.

Just before 4:30 p.m., Bananas paraded through the concourse with a brass band to greet the earliest fan arrivals. Even “Stilts,” five-year Bananas vet Dakota Albritton, leaned down from where he stood 10 feet, 9 inches above to give high-fives. Later, he pitched the fifth inning.

No matter where someone sat, chances for involvement were high. Both Bananas and the opposing Firefighters pulled young volunteers to play catch, lead the crowd in claps, or round the bases after “hitting a home run” before getting mobbed by both teams at the plate.

After absorbing the ceaseless circus that is Banana Ball, a normal baseball game starts to look like a first draft.

“It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life,” said Caroline Ray, a rising senior and soccer player at Crofton High in Anne Arundel County. “They always have something going on. There’s never a dull moment.”

Games with fans, such as the Baby Race, and group dances don’t just bookmark each half inning. They’re happening at the same time as actual play, in more places than one, so it can be hard to know where to look at any given time. Music booms constantly. An inning doesn’t pass without trick plays, either.

“This all must take a lot of practice,” recently graduated Crofton baseball player Will Davis said. “Nobody could just go out here and do it.”

Three of his baseball teammates agreed. They might be surprised to learn the players don’t feel the same way.

“It’s sink or swim,” Bananas outfielder Robert Anthony Cruz said. “This morning, I’m watching a ‘Drake and Josh’ video for the choreography I had to perform tonight. First and only time I’ll ever perform it. There’s a new show every night … and it really gets you out of your comfort zone.”

Cruz — known better as “RAC” — hoped to play at Nationals Park when the organization signed him in 2021. Nine months later, they released him. On his long drive back from his rookie league team in Florida to his parents’ house in inland Southern California, he leaned heavily into his Christian faith to pull through. He made coaching content on social media and gained 800,000 followers before the Bananas signed him for the 2024 tour.

“He wouldn’t believe this,” Cruz said of his younger self. “I’d tell him to trust the process and enjoy every moment.”

Cruz played infield his entire baseball career, but the Bananas needed an outfielder. Now, crowds can expect backflip catches from RAC, often ending in his signature fist hitting the ground like a Marvel superhero. That, he said, was an unintentional imitation, but he likes the similarities.

Bananas owner Jesse Cole debuted “Banana Ball” in 2016 to be a more exciting version of America’s pastime. Four pitches yield a sprint, not a walk, in which the runner keeps going until all fielders touch the ball. A ball caught cleanly by a fan in the stands is an out.

But more often than that are normal baseball plays, just at warp speed.

Bananas games utilize a two-hour time clock. Fielders whip passes to each other as if every runner was a World Series game-winner and the pitchers — wearing yellow cowboy hats, on stilts or leaping out of a rodeo barrel, would never need a pitch clock to hurry it up.

“What our infielders do on a day-to-day basis is unbelievable,” Cruz said. “To be able to field a ball, put it between your legs, bounce it and throw a guy out by a half step? It is so incredible.”

Trick plays are not the only appeal to fans, either.

A little girl ambled her way through the stands the moment the gates opened and screamed, “Hey, KJ!” Kyle “KJ” Jackson replied quickly, “What’s up? How’ve you been?”

The sandy-haired 23-year-old infielder draws hearts in his eye black and feasts the crowd with smiles.  Everywhere he went at Nationals Park, he received a pop star’s welcome.

He has 783,000 followers on TikTok — about 450,000 more than the Orioles. That’s where three 10-year-old softball players from Culpepper, Virginia, discovered him.

“He’s really good at baseball,” Harlee Boyer said, “and he’s cute.”

Quite a few fans wore red, black and neon Firefighters jerseys, but the two sides don’t have any animosity. A rivalrous nature doesn’t fit the atmosphere, for fans or players.

As Firefighters’ utility player Dakota McFadden knelt to write in the dirt before the game, a Bananas player stopped beside him to make sure he was all right.

They’re the initials of all the people in his life who have died, he explained. McFadden does this before every game before pointing to the sky, a solemn expression on his face, before shifting into comedy mode. Remembering his loved ones constantly is his superpower, he said.

“It’s easy because the battle’s already won,” McFadden said, “and at the end of the day, I know they’re all with me.”

Like most of the players, McFadden’s baseball journey stretched across the country from North Carolina to three colleges (including Prince George’s Community College) to the independent league. He made the Bananas in 2021 and was signed to the Firefighters in 2023 when the league expanded from two to three (and later four) teams.

Ian Benson, a pitcher and rising sophomore at Southern High, admires the Bananas’ devotion to keeping their careers going.

“It just shows that if you work, you’ll get to the spot you want to be in,” he said, “even if it’s not MLB.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

As a mother registered her son for Washington’s free football clinic, the little boy pointed excitedly, even jumping once: “Look! There’s Malik!”

He wasn’t alone.

“We’re here because of Malik,” said Milo Locksley, a third grader and grandson of Maryland coach Michael Locksley. “He mean everything to me. He wore my number.”

His best friend, 7-year-old Kyrie “Truck” Gaskins, added, “Malik’s my favorite player.”

It’s the third straight year for Washington’s “Friday Night Lights” camp, a no-cost football skills clinic open to kids in third through eighth grade on Spalding’s field. A different aura than the previous years followed as more than 130 kids came through the Whittles Field gates.

Darnique Rucker, Gaskins’ mother, heard about the camp from Washington’s aunt, her coworker. She hopes her son and his friend walk away from the evening having learned some “discipline, development and focus.”

“It’s amazing, for [Malik] to be so young and doing this, giving back to his community,” she said. “We appreciate this. Saved me $100.”

Washington split the kids by age and then into smaller groups led by two or three players. Warmups rolled into drills, from passing to avoiding tackles. Within minutes of the clinic’s start, any uncertainty lingering on the kids’ faces melted to steely seriousness as they tried to outrun the kid beside them.

“It’s just fun,” Washington said. “Past two years we’ve done it, everybody’s come out and had a great time. Why not keep it going, come back to where it all started and do it for this community that helped me get to where I am?”

When the groups broke off to rotate drills, it didn’t matter where Washington walked as he patrolled the turf. Kids immediately broke ranks to chatter at him.

Maryland’s Malik Washington holds free football camp | PHOTOS

That’s nothing new to his mother, Kiana Teixeira. Kids have always gravitated to Washington like iron sand to a magnet.

But she’s noticed a change in it.

Washington is no longer the skillful Spalding quarterback who might go on to do great things somewhere. Since he joined Maryland football in January, the possible starting quarterback’s star has ascended even higher. Joining some Spalding players such as Florida State-bound safety Sean Johnson at the camp were a bale of Terps, including former Cavaliers like defensive lineman Delmar White. Others without ties to Anne Arundel County even attended, like safety Jalen Huskey, inside linebacker Daniel Wingate and tight end Leon Haughton Jr., to name a few. And there were more than a few.

That’s just as good evidence as any, Teixeira agreed, that the rookie already has votes of confidence from his new teammates.

“All the relationships that needed to stay, stayed,” Washington said. “It’s good to have people around you that understand.”

Over the past two years, Teixeira took on all the grunt work to ensure the camp ran smoothly, printing papers at her mother’s house and organizing sponsorships from friends. But as Washington trades Spalding for Maryland, times change. Now, working with a sports agency like F4L, Washington has an agent to handle those tasks, from making sure there’s enough waivers to organizing sponsorships from businesses. Golden Krust donated 200 dinners for the kids and staff, PATH Water contributed 700 bottles and Honey Stinger supplied energy waffle snacks.

Former Spalding star Julius Chestnut aided the camp over the past two seasons, too, but professional duties held the current Tennessee Titans running back out this time. Next year, Chestnut promises to bring a few fellow NFL players with him to lead groups.

“It’s all about making sure the kids have the most fun for a few hours,” Washington said.

For rising eighth grader CJ Cundiff, coming to the clinic wasn’t just about improving himself as a wide receiver or being near a star.

“Seeing him, it’s like anybody can really make it,” Cundiff said.

Have a news tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.

It doesn’t matter how quickly the prey runs, the cat always overtakes the gazelle.

Plenty of girls lacrosse players in Maryland have gotten to know the feeling, playing against Maria Bragg. The sight of the 5-foot-9 midfielder bulleting out of the draw circle, ghosting through defenders and hammering a wicked shot is no less than what any other team has come to expect.

This spring, the junior gave her most otherworldly performances against the state’s best.

“Whether we’re up or down, we’re hyping each other up and it just gets me on this high – a spark lights in me,” Bragg said.

Spalding, eventual IAAM A Conference runner-up, doubled Bragg to try and stop her in their meeting, and she single-handedly led the charge to dispatch them. A diving shot through heavy traffic forced three overtimes with rival Broadneck.

When South River nearly upset Severna Park in the Class 3A East Region I final, Bragg captured the final draw and outran the Seahawks on her flanks to hold on to the win.

“I never let myself get too nervous,” Bragg said. “I trust myself. I try to try different things to win every day, and I might make mistakes, but [I] just make them at full speed.”

She is such a singular mecca of swiftness, agility and power that even opposing coaches ranked her higher than their own players when it came time to consider the Capital Gazette 2025 Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year – an award a long time coming to the Florida-bound star.

“Maria is a complete player, who combines next level athleticism with unparalleled competitive spirit allowing her to be a force all over the field,” Broadneck coach Katy Kelley said. “She is the type of athlete wherein her coaches want the ball in her stick when the game is on the line as she is the epitome of a game changing athlete.”

Bragg led the Falcons with 94 draw controls, setting a program career record with 229.

Some girls will scrape away for the draw regardless of the scene around them. Bragg will spot an open girl next to her and knock the ball their way. The same goes for scoring; the midfielder eclipsed the Severna Park assists mark with 16 this spring, totaling 49 with another year to play.

“I have so much trust in them that they’re gonna get it,” said Bragg, who also netted 37 goals. “I wouldn’t be Player of the Year if it wasn’t for the team around me making me better.”

But on defense, it’s all her. Bragg led with 33 caused turnovers.

“She’s patient and aggressive and knows when to go for that back check,” Severna Park coach Anne Houghton said. “Unfortunately, referees blow the whistle when she’s just so strong and quick, the stick just falls out of the other girl’s hands.”

That’s not necessarily what cost Severna Park its 17th state title, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Already down two starters in the Class 3A final against Marriotts Ridge, Bragg led a rally, getting the tying goal with 10 seconds in the first half. She opened the second with two more.

“She’s a clutch player. If she’s nervous, she doesn’t show it,” Houghton said.

But when officials served Bragg a yellow card late in the fourth quarter the Mustangs rallied, tied, and went ahead. Mentally, it’s a lot to come back from, player and coach agreed.

But it’s not gonna stop her from trying again.

Bragg’s role as Severna Park’s star has been brewing for years. She ranked second in draw controls as a freshman varsity starter and led the Falcons in total points as a sophomore, despite her coaches arranging increasingly difficult schedules. She laughs when people, especially opposing coaches, ask her if she’s graduating yet. She’s been hearing it since her first year, in soccer and basketball, too — her reputation exceeds her age.

“Other coaches know who they’re going to go to. You can try to mark her,” Houghton said, “but she is just so athletic and fast, it’s very hard to stop her.”

Bragg’s goals aren’t fancy, her coach said, but they’re intentional and unstoppable. Her scoring pile could stand higher, but Houghton reckons Bragg doesn’t try to score more because she doesn’t want to seem selfish. There are superstars that lean into their gift, rack record-breaking numbers and leave a few for the rest.

Granted, the coach will push Bragg to monopolize the field even more next year, especially as a host of seniors depart. But Bragg doesn’t see any pressure in that.

“To be a leader isn’t just to be a captain. Our underclassmen proved anyone can step up,” she said. “I think I’m more sad that my friends will be gone than stressed about having too much on my plate. There’s just too good of a future.”

Coach of the Year: Tara Shea, Spalding

Things were going extraordinarily well for the nationally ranked Cavaliers when midseason injuries to two stars and main contributors, Maeve Cavanaugh and Makenna Salta, wrenched their season off-course.

After suffering a couple losses, Shea righted the ship.

”Every hurdle we could have had between injuries and close games, and we played our best lacrosse when it mattered,” Shea said. “This was a group of kids that came together and knew they weren’t going to give up.”

Spalding rallied to win eight straight, including a quadruple overtime triumph over Severn and a 13-3 beat down of McDonogh. The Cavaliers endured a pair of one-goal nailbiters with St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s to earn a spot in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship — the program’s first-ever appearance — falling only just short to Maryvale Prep, 7-5.

To the very end, Shea inspired her team to keep battling, even when it was clear the Lions’ defense just had her offense’s number in the final moments, Spalding garnered turnovers and aimed shots until the last second ticked.

”They never gave up when things weren’t going their way,” Shea said, “and I really think it speaks volumes to every single kid on the field, on the bench, the coaching staff — they never felt like the game was done.”

The Cavaliers ended the year 12-4.

Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.