Falcons Play Complementary Baseball To Start 6-0

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Severna Park baseball coach Eric Milton can’t complain about a lack of pitching.

Three of his four starters will play in college next season: seniors Seamus Patenaude (Shenandoah University) and Nathan Clarke (Lebanon Valley College) and junior Nathan Murphy (George Washington University).

With those three and junior Sean Williams, this team is well-armed for the 2023 season.

And the 6-0 Falcons could have the best rotation in the county.

Williams and Clarke combined to throw a shutout in the season opener at Annapolis on March 21. The next day against South River, Murphy surrendered only one run on one hit over five innings, striking out eight. Williams then hurled five scoreless innings against Broadneck on March 27.

“We have four top-of-the-line guys,” said Milton, who is in his 11th season. “I think we have a couple of Division I arms. They have good velocity and command.”

Patenaude, a right-hander, struck out 33 batters in 23 innings last year while giving up 19 hits and posting a 3.00 ERA.

On the mound, he started his 2023 season against Mount Saint Joseph, surrendering two runs in four innings.

Murphy, a left-hander, gave up only four hits in 10 innings a year ago and fanned 17 batters.

“He has really good velocity and a really good breaking ball,” Milton said of Murphy. “He has three pitches he can go to.”

The right-handed Williams worked as the closer last year and had a 0.80 ERA, pitched 16 innings, yielded 11 hits and struck out 11.

Clarke, a right-hander, was just as impressive, giving up just nine hits in 23 innings and striking out 20.

Whoever stands on the mound should have plenty of support. Severna Park batted .293 last year, but the lineup certainly has the potential to be better.

The proof? The Falcons averaged nearly 14 runs per game through their first six matchups this year.

“I think it’s a very strong lineup,” Milton said. “It’s one of the best lineups that I have had as a whole. I think one through nine, we are really good. One of our better players, [Charles Hartman], is a sophomore and he’ll hit ninth in the lineup.”

Patenaude, who plays third base when he isn’t on the mound, spearheads the lineup.

He batted .365 with 17 RBIs last year. He got off to another hot start this year, with multi-hit games against Annapolis and Broadneck.

Junior shortstop Angel Santiago-Cruz is also one of the offensive leaders. He hit .371 last year with three home runs and 14 RBIs.

Santiago-Cruz crushed two home runs in Severna Park’s first three games this season and followed that effort with multi-hit games against Mount Saint Joseph, Broadneck and Arundel.

But no player may be more important to the offense than senior Michael Carparelli, a first-year starter in left field. He began the season with three home runs and nine RBIs in the Falcons’ first three games.

Hartman (outfield), Williams (outfield), junior Kody Philips (catcher), seniors Brooks Harris (outfield), Nick Dinunzio (second base), Matt Fleisher and Ethan Rodriguez (first base), are also a big part of the lineup.

Severna Park lost in the Class 4A state final the past two years. The Falcons were impressive in 2021, going 17-1. They return five starters from a team that went 18-4 last year.

Anyone thinking Severna Park will show signs of decline will probably have to wait for another season.

“We have good pitching depth and I think it’s a staff that can compete with any team in the area,” Patenaude said. “We also have a lot of guys who have shown good power with the bats.”

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