Season Preview: Archbishop Curley
February 6, 2015
By Jerry Shank
Maryland Director of Scouting
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ARCHBISHOP CURLEY
HEAD COACH: Brooks Norris
CONFERENCE: MIAA “A”
2014 RECORD: 17-12
FINISH: 3rd
RETURNING STARTERS: 4
TOP RETURNERS:
Marty Costes
Jordan Menfee
AJ Korczynski
Andrew Dikes
Jack Cassidy
Damond Nixon
TEAM STRENGTHS:
Hitting and Defense. Marty Costes, a University of Maryland commit, heads up the team both offensively and defensively. Having a strong middle is important to any team especially at shortstop and Curley have that with Costes at SS and fellow senior Andrew Dikes at 2B. Offensively, Costes hit close to .500 on the year in the tough MIAA and led the team with 38 RBI. Dikes is a table setter for the offense and finished the 2014 on a 25-game hitting streak, which he looks to add to that this year.
QUESTION MARK:
Pitching. It’s not the talent, but the consistency that will ride with this pitching staff going into 2015. Curley has a strong and potent combo of RHP Jordan Menfee (Northern Kentucky commit) and LHP AJ Corczynski. Depth and consistency are going to be two factors that will play a huge role in determining the team’s success. Jack Cassidy will take on a larger role within the staff this year as the likely candidate to be top three in the rotation. Cassidy pitched well in limited opportunities for Curley last season, and is looking to build off of a strong fall with the Oriolanders fall program.
WILDCARD:
It’s hard to decide one person as a potential wildcard candidate for Archbishop Curley this season as there are many new faces on the roster this year that should contribute. It bodes very well for the future of the team as the majority of newcomers are all underclassmen. Trent Gast-Woodard is a young catcher with good size and potential to take off as a freshmen. Damond (2016) and Paul (2018) Nixon are both potential threats in the line-up.
Jonathan Brice is a 2016 transfer that could be the biggest wildcard for Curley. The 6-foot-2 200-pound OF runs very well and has a tools that show future potential. Brice transferred in from MIAA foe St. Francis Academy and his eligibility is still uncertain. If cleared it could be a big addition to the Curley roster.
OVERALL:
Curley is going to be interesting with all of the new talent that has been formed together. How quickly the new pieces gel together will play a large factor in how the season will go. Costes will be relied upon to bring leadership and quicken the team unity. Curley looks like a team that could make a strong run the second half of the season as they learn team chemistry at the beginning when games start rolling.