Prep Baseball Report

Maryland Power 25 Countdown: #20 Loyola Blakefield


Kyle Campbell
Maryland Scouting Director

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It's hard to believe but the start of the 2020 Maryland high school baseball season is just two weeks away. Every week throughout the season we will release our Power 25, ranking the top twenty-five teams from across the Old Line State. Today we continue our Preseason Power 25 countdown by taking a look at our #20 team, the Loyola Blakefield Dons from the MIAA Conference. We will release one team in our countdown each weekday leading up to the release of our 2020 #1 Preseason Power 25 team on March 19th. Then, on March 20th our PBR Maryland staff will release it's final preseason predictions for the upcoming season as team get ready to square off on opening day later that afternoon.

 

Loyola Blakefield Dons 2020 SEASON PREVIEW

Head Coach: Mike Kelly (4th Season) ewf
Mascot: Dons
Conference: MIAA "A"
2019 Record: 16-10
2019 Conference Finish: 3rd Place
2019 Playoff Finish: 4th Place
Twitter Handle: @BaseballDons
CLICK HERE to view the Loyola Blakefield Baseball Website
and Schedule

 

2020 PBR MD POWER 25 PRESEASON RANK: #20

 

Returning Starters: 5

Mason Burke (Jr.) C/OF
Dom Dinoto (Sr.) SS
Sean Kelly (Sr.) OF
Tommy Rogers (Sr.) 2B
Danny Sheeler (Sr.) 1B


Returning Pitchers: 3

Nate Beal (Sr.) RHP
Mikey Jensen (Jr.) RHP
Stephen Schenning (Jr.) RHP

 

Returning Players with Post-Season / Pre-Season Honors

Nate Beal - 2019 PBR Maryland Preseason All-State
Josh Braxton - 2019 PBR Maryland Preseason All-State
Dom Dinoto - 2019 PBR Maryland Preseason All-State / 2019 All-MIAA "A" Conference / 2020 Preseason MSABC Team

 

Key Losses

Austin Mummaw RHP
Emmet Reynolds C
Owen Reynolds UTL
Jeffrey Snider 2B
Matthew Wyatt RHP

 

Top Newcomers

Jack Belbot (Jr.) OF/P
Chris Lopez (Jr.) RHP
Ryan Wright (Jr.) INF/OF

 

2020 Key Players

Nate Beal (Sr.) RHP
Josh Braxton (So.) OF 
Dom Dinoto (Sr.) SS
Mikey Jenson (Jr.) RHP
Stephen Schenning (Jr.) RHP
Danny Sheeler (Sr.) 1B

 

Players Signed / Committed to College

Nate Beal (2020) - University of Pennsylvania
Dom Dinoto (2020) - Army-West Point 
Stephen Schenning (2021) Mount St. Mary's University
Danny Sheeler (2020) Washington College (MD)

 

Season Snapshot

Loyola finished third in the regular season last year with a 13-5 conference record and showed resiliency in the playoffs following an opening game loss to McDonogh. The Dons bounced back with wins over Archbishop Spalding and McDonogh on back-to-back days before eventually falling to Mount St. Joe 1-0 two days later. This year's team will need that same determination, grit, and work ethic if they hope to contend for the MIAA "A" Conference Championship with several key pieces having graduated off of last year's team. 

On the mound, senior Nate Beal (University of Pennsylvania) figures to slide into the number one spot in the rotation with Matthew Wyatt off to the University of Virginia. 4th year head coach Mike Kelly will also look to juniors Stephen Schenning (Mount St. Mary's) and Mikey Jenson to step up and fill other spots in a rotation that also sees Austin Mummaw gone as well. Beal, Schenning, and Jensen are a strong trio of starters that should give the Dons a shot to win on a nightly basis. Juniors Jack Belbot and Chris Lopez figure to also really make an impact on the staff throughout the season as both have shown significant development since last year.

At the plate, Loyola will be without the power hitting presence of Emmet Reynolds in the middle of the lineup and will also need to replace the production lost from Owen Reynolds and Jeffrey Snider. Senior shortstop Dominic Dinoto (Army) is a game changer and he alongside fellow senior returners Danny Sheeler (Washington College), Sean Kelly, and Tommy Rogers will look to lead the Dons lineup in 2020. Look for junior Mason Burke, super sophomore OF Joshua Braxton and top newcomers Belbot and Ryan Wright to not only make things happen offensively but to also play key roles defensively in the field.

 

 

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