COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland head coach John Szefc and Maryland junior right-handed pitcher Mike Shawaryn spoke at baseball media day Friday at XFINITY Center.
Maryland enters 2016 after a season that saw the Terps win a school record 42 games and advance to their second straight Super Regional. In his fourth year in College Park, Szefc is the only head coach in school history to lead Maryland to consecutive 40-win seasons and consecutive Super Regional appearances.
A preseason first-team All-American, Shawaryn is already holds the Maryland records for career wins (24), single season wins (13) and single season strikeouts (138). This summer, he became just the second player in Maryland history to play for USA Baseball when he suited up for the Collegiate National Team. He was a first-team All-American and unanimous All-Big Ten selection last season.
Maryland also returns freshman All-American shortstop Kevin Smith to anchor its offense. Szefc will count on fifth-year senior outfielder Anthony Papio, junior DH/C Nick Cieri and redshirt freshman third baseman Andrew Bechtold to fill out a lineup that could be among the most potent in the Big Ten.
Sophomores Taylor Bloom and Brian Shaffer are expected to anchor the weekend rotation behind Shawaryn while senior Robert Galligan, sophomore Ryan Selmer and junior Tayler Stiles make up a deep group of bullpen arms.
Maryland also welcomes a talented recruiting class that is its highest ranked in history (17. D1Baseball.com). Freshman second baseman Nick Dunn and junior college transfer Madison Nickens are newcomers who are expected to make an immediate impact.
Maryland opens its season at Alabama on Feb. 19. The Terrapins will play Rhode Island in their home opener on Friday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m.
Head Coach John Szefc
Opening Statement:
“I want to thank everybody for coming out today. We are obviously pretty excited about opening up in two weeks. Our schedule is very difficult. What I've found over the years is that you have to create a very difficult schedule, particularly a difficult road schedule, to create a strong RPI for ranking and postseason placement purposes. Our schedule is pretty challenging if you look up and down. I think our personnel is able to handle that kind of schedule. We lost eight guys to the Major League Baseball Draft last year and 10 overall that were pretty regular contributors for us. We had a plan behind that with some new guys coming in. We had some really good younger players that did not play at lot as freshman because they were behind a lot of good players. To this point the plan has worked well. It's about where we through it would be on paper. I think if we can remain healthy, we feel pretty good about it. We look forward to getting it going in two weeks.”
On Mike Shawaryn:
"Having Mike back for his junior year is a very comforting thing as a coaching staff. Outside of his ability and what he's done on the mound, he's probably the most consistent college baseball player I have ever been around in 26 years. Coaches look for consistency, they kind of want to know what they're going to get 90 to 95 percent of the time and you certainly know what you are going to get with Mike. He has proven that. All the preseason accolades that have come his way are certainly deserved. He pitched for Team USA this summer and created some opportunities for other Maryland players to do that in the future."
On replacing the offensive production from last season:
“If I just go around the field. Kevin Smith was a freshman All-American last year at shortstop. Andrew Bechtold, who was our starting first baseman at the beginning of last year who was a high school draft choice as a shortstop by the [Texas] Rangers, he's back as a redshirt freshman he'll play third for us most likely. Nick Cieri, who hit in the middle of the lineup for us last year, we lost in the middle of the season to an injury. He's back and was a Cape Cod League all-star in the summer. Anthony Papio is a fifth-year senior and he's back. He gives us an awful lot of offense. We have several interesting offensive options, but two that will help right away. Nick Dunn is a second baseman who should be able to replace Brandon Lowe who was a third round draft pick. He's a very similar type player. Madison Nickens, a left-handed hitting outfielder from LSU-Eunice, should be a pretty regular performer offensively.”
On Taylor Bloom and Brian Shaffer:
“I think what you're talking about there is a reason why we should be able to handle our schedule. A guy like Shaffer, we kind of threw him into the fire early last year, but at the end of the year he beats Illinois and snaps their 27-game winning streak. Bloom pitches in the Big Ten Championship game, which we didn't win, but it was a really close game and then he beats UCLA in the regional. He had as good a summer in the Ripken League as you could imagine from a numbers perspective. Those guys are really important as far as being able to pitch on the weekend behind Mike. We were kind of inconsistent behind Mike last year and we feel better about it now than we did a year ago.”
Junior Right-Handed Pitcher Mike Shawaryn
On the pitching staff:
“I think we have a lot of good young talent coming in with a mix of some really good older guys with a lot of experience with [Rob] Galligan, [Ryan] Selmer, [Jared] Price, all the guys that have played in the college game a lot. I think the mix of that will really help us throughout the season in the beginning and especially toward the end when games have more pressure situations. Just to have the experience will really help us. It'll help the young guys develop for this year and the years to come too.”
On balancing expectations:
“It's nice to have the end goals and I think everybody knows what they are and is aware of them, but Coach Szefc has taught me since freshman year that you have to take it day by day. It's a really long season and a long process. At the end of the season, there are going to be a lot of things that happen but right now it's about today and tomorrow and Alabama. I just take it day by day and how I can get better. If I focus on that, then the goals down the road will take care of themselves.”
– Terps –
