COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland baseball team hosted the program's 2019 Leadoff Banquet Saturday night. The banquet featured an alumni panel that included former Terps Eric Milton, Mark Ciardi, Justin Maxwell, Kevin Smith, Jeff Schaefer and Jimmy Reed.

Head coach Rob Vaughn kicked off the banquet by introducing the 2019 Terps before introducing the alumni panel. The former Terps told stories about their time at Maryland and how it helped them post-college. Ciardi, who played in the major leagues before becoming an acclaimed film producer, spoke of the lesson being a student athletes taught him.

"Whether you play after this or not, I think baseball is going to make you more successful in life," Ciardi said. "Just the competition, working hard, working early. So work hard, get your degree, and support the school. Come back and stay engaged with this program. You'll understand when you'll get older like us. You'll remember back to those days."

Former big league All-Star Eric Milton, whose son Kody is a freshman on the 2019 squad, discussed how playing in college created relationships that lasted a lifetime.

"What he [Ciardi] touched on earlier, my closest friends are the guys that I shared a locker room with here, on this campus, to this day," Milton said "It wasn't my school, it's not the big leagues, it was the guys that I played with here at the University of Maryland, those are lifelong special relationships. You got to cherish that."

Maxwell, who is now a first-year dental student at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and played for four major league teams, talked about how much of his success to always playing hard in every situation.

"Every time you guys step across that chalk line, you never know who is watching you play," Maxwell said. "So every time you guys step across that line, give everything you got. All those friendships you make, make most of your opportunities now at Maryland."

Jeff Schaefer, who was teammates with Ciardi and played in the Major Leagues, reflected on his life and how important his experiences in college were to shaping what he did later in the game.

"Don't take a single day for granted. It's cliche, like all the stories. We have no guarantee for tomorrow. I got asked to come up here, I appreciate you guys asking me to do that. I was proud that I was asked to come back here, I was proud to be apart of it, I got a chance to be apart of it. Don't take it for granted guys."

Jimmy Reed and Kevin Smith, both recent Terps, talked about the diversity of experiences the university provided. Reed, a former minor leaguer who now is in the IT field, not only cherished the brotherhood of the program but also the opportunities outside of baseball that Maryland gave him,

"Just take advantage of everything that this University has to offer," Reed said. "When I was at Maryland, I really tried to do that. I was a journalism major, I wanted to write for The Diamondback. I wrote articles for the Diamondback. I did other things in the journalism community at Maryland. Take advantage of everything this University has to offer. It truly does has everything could ever want. It's a huge University, there's so much to do here. And obviously, Maryland baseball is amazing. But there is so much else that you can do here, so take advantage of it."

Now a top prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system, Smith preached the value of off-the-field interactions and

"So I know you guys are working hard, but have fun," Smith said. "When we get together and talk about stuff, it's never baseball it's never winning regionals. It might be the night after winning regionals. It was the stuff off the field that we did, those are the times you are going to have fun with. When you guys are away from the field, keep it away from baseball."

Maryland opens its season this weekend at the Brittain Resorts Invitational in Conway, S.C.