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Maryland State Player of the Year Finalists Announced

June 15, 2017

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By Jerry Shank
MD/VA Scouting Director

On Monday, June 19, Prep Baseball Report will officially recognize the ‘Prep Baseball Report State Player of the Year’ Award, announcing the Player of the Year for every state that we cover throughout the PBR Network. That release will be at 5pm EST.

On Thursday, June 22, PBR will release the 'PBR Player of the Year Award' with its release also at 5pm EST. In our PBR Maryland Postseason Wrap-up, we give you our finalists for the Maryland State Player of the Year, followed by the PBR Maryland All-State team to be released tomorrow.

*Note: The PBR Maryland All-State Team is based off of statistics turned into from high school coaches across the state, not all programs turned in their statistics.

Schools are labeled as either private or MPSSAA to signify that the MPSSAA teams only played around 20 games this year while private school teams averaged over 30 games.

Md State Player of the Year Finalists


(In Alphabetical order)

Noah Brack, LHP/1B, St. Michaels 2017
 In 1A championship season for the Saints, Brack was a huge component for the team during their run. Brack was the senior ace on the staff, compling an impressive 8-0 record with a 0.86 ERA in 57 innings and 76 strikeouts. Brack also was equally impressive at the plate for St. Michaels, posting a .493 batting average with 23 RBI while scoring 20 runs.

Ryan Bywaters, RHP/OF, Smithsburg 2017
 Though it was a transition year for the Leopards in 2017, Bywaters, one of our Preseason Player of the Year finalists, put up impressive numbers for Smithsburg as they almost made a run in the 1A state playoffs out of the west. Bywaters had a solid year at the plate, hitting .338 with 8 HR and 17 RBI, but it was Bywaters year on the mound that made the most noise. Bywaters posted a 3-2 record with a 1.64 ERA in 42.1 innings. Most impressive was that Bywaters averaged close to two strikeouts per inning on the year, posting 81 strikeouts on the season.

Harold Cortijo, RHP/OF, Riverdale Baptist 2017
 Cortijo, the No. 1 overall player in the PBR Maryland Class of 2017 rankings, put up an impressive year for the Crusaders showing why he was deserving of that No. 1 ranking. On the mound Cortijo went 11-0 with a 0.55 ERA in 63.1 innings and 86 strikeouts. Cortijo also contributed at a high level offensively as well, hitting .537 with 33 RBI, 53 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. Cortijo capped his season off by being the first high school player taken in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft this week, going to the New York Yankees in Round 14.

Kody Milton, 3B, Severna Park 2018
 Milton showed why we have called him the best hitter in the state with video game like numbers this season for Severna Park. The Junior had an amazing .580 batting average in 69 at-bats, with a .684 on-base percentage. Milton had 11doubles with six homeruns and 32 RBI.

Jose Rivera INF Riverdale Baptist 2018
Rivera, our second junior in the finalist conversation, was a sweet hitting force for the Crusaders this season. Rivera posted a .541 batting average in 98 at-bats with 13 doubles, 10 homeruns, and an astounding 68 RBI this season.

Nick Vermillion 3B/RHP Archbishop Spalding.
We predicted in our MIAA preview that Vermillion was going to have to have a big season and step into the lead man role if Spalding was going to continue their winning ways. Although the Cavs did not get another championship this season, Vermillion was a big reason why they finished the year as the No. 2 seed heading into the tournament. Vermillion hit .412 with six homeruns for Spalding, but his pitching numbers were what came up big as he served part of their 1-2 punch with Jordan Geber. Vermillion had a  9-0 regular season with a 0.86 ERA in 57 innings and 74 strikeouts.

Stay tuned tomorrow as we release the PBR Maryland All-State Team.

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