Top high school baseball players set for annual Robinson All-Star Game at Camden Yards (VIDEO HERE!)
by Derek Toney
Forty years ago, on a late June Sunday afternoon at Memorial Stadium, the Crown High School All-Star baseball game was played.
Now the Brooks Robinson High School All-Star Game of Maryland, it’s the ultimate accomplishment for any high school player in the state. The annual showcase takes place Sunday afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, following the Orioles game against Cleveland.
Kids running the bases, a tradition following Sunday home games, will precede the all-star game.
Then, the slightly bigger kids get the chance to live a dream, playing in front of family and friends at Oriole Park.
“It’s crazy to think because freshman year I made it a goal to play in the Brooks Robinson game,” said Towson shortstop Tariq Talley. “Now I’m here and living it…it’s just surreal.”
Talley, who helped Towson reach the Class 3A state title game last weekend, received his North team uniform in a ceremony inside the Camden Yards Warehouse Thursday. Thirty players total (15 for North and 15 for South) will participate Sunday, including 17 from the Baltimore region.
Mount St. Joseph’s Ripken Reese, named after Orioles’ Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., will play for the North. Former Oriole infielder Billy Ripken played in the inaugural Crown All-Star game in 1982.
Reese, a 2022 preseason all-state selection by the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches (MSABC), missed the entire 2021 season due to injury.
Healthy, Reese was highly motivated this past season.
“It made me want to come back even stronger and harder, said Reese, who will play for Kent State University next year. “I just wanted to prove I’m one of the best.”
Poly’s Brendan George, who was the Baltimore City League’s Player of the Year, will suit up for the North. He’s the first city public school league performer to play in the Robinson All-Star game since 1995 (Patterson’s Willie McGirt).
The Robinson All-Star game, named after the Orioles’ legendary third basemen, helped bring sponsorship (Geier Insurance, now MAI Capital Management) after Crown withdrew after 2003.
Robinson, a Baseball Hall of Famer, wasn’t able to attend Thursday’s press conference for health reasons.
The South team will be coached by Southern’s Kyle Lynch, former Chesapeake-Anne Arundel coach Ken King (current MSABC President) and Keith Powell (Patuxent). John Carroll School’s Darrion Siler and John Schmidt (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) will lead the North.
Legendary Patterson coach Roger Wrenn, who died Memorial Day after a valiant battle with cancer, was selected honorary coach for the North. Wrenn won 431 games at Patterson, and was selected to the Maryland State Baseball Hall of Fame and the Maryland State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame (won 284 games between Patterson and Poly).
Wrenn’s son and current Gilman School athletic director Russell Wrenn will serve in his place.
BROOKS ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL ALL-STAR GAME OF MARYLAND
When: Sunday (following kids’ postgame running of bases after Orioles/Cleveland game)
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
SOUTH TEAM
Chet Bowling, LaPlata, infield
Sam Cohen, Mount Hebron, pitcher
Ben Davis, Reservoir, catcher
Jeffrey DeLair, Patuxent, pitcher
Chandler Dyott, St. Michaels, outfield
Matt Gostomski, St. Michaels, catcher
John Greenwalt, Aruncel, infield
Nick Karls, Chesapeake-Anne Arundel, pitcher
Michael Martin, Southern, outfield
Brady Powell, Patuxent, infield
John Sherwood, St. Michaels, infield
Liam Snow, Atholton, outfield
Nick Stergiou, Broadneck, infield
Kyle Speas, North Caroline, pitcher
Corbin Warner, Arundel, outfield
Alternates -Thomas Loughry, Arundel, infield; Brendan Phillips, Chesapeake-Anne Arundel, pitcher; Travis Thompson, Reservoir, utility
Coaches: Ken King, Kyle Lynch (Southern), Keith Powell (Patuxent)
NORTH TEAM
Matt Archibald, John Carroll School, pitcher
Colin Dunn, Richard Montgomery, outfield
Ryan Elseroad, Hereford, oufield
Paul Fine, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, infield
Brendan George, Poly, infield
Liam Houghton, Our Lady of Good Counsel, infield
Drew Kinsey, Hereford, catcher
Jake Long, Arundel, outfield
Ripken Reese, Mount St. Joseph, catcher
Kyle Sanger, Tuscarora, outfield
Chase Supensky, Towson, pitcher
Tariq Talley, Towson, infield
Beck Urofsky, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, pticher
Will Weiman, John Carroll School, infield
Brendan Yagesh, Urbana, pitcher
Alternates – Jackson Bauer, Mount St. Joseph, pitcher; Dylan Moser, Smithsburg, utility
Coaches: John Schmidt, Bethesda-Chevy Chase; Darrion Siler, John Carroll School; T. Roger Wrenn, Patterson
