The school’s baseball program has sent athletes to the collegiate level in the past couple of years, including Frederick Community College freshman Josh Erd, Gettysburg College freshman Ryan Kunst, and senior Noah Parker, who is committed to Oberlin College. The successes on and off the field from this school’s program allowed for them to reach this level of athletics.
Erd, primarily a shortstop, spent four years on this school’s varsity program with his freshman season being cut short because of the Covid-19 pandemic. His first commitment was to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, but he later changed to commit to Frederick Community College. The growth of leadership shown by Erd was reflected in his winning of the Buddy McCracken Award, which is given to the player who shows the most commitment and leadership to the program. “Wootton baseball and Coach Marchand taught me discipline and what needs to be done away from the field to play in the games,” Erd said.
Kunst’s performance here includes his three-year varsity career, as he was called up to the team during his sophomore season, which propelled his confidence. Despite his relatively late start to baseball at 10 years old, he understood what his end goal was the second he stepped onto the field that season. “I actually started pretty late compared to most of my teammates in college, when I was about nine or 10. I had always wanted to play at the next level ever since the end of my first season,” Kunst said.
Parker’s success is due to his dedicated work ethic. He learned how to work hard from a young age and his work ethic increased exponentially once he hit his freshman year of high school. He began to want to pursue baseball in college after his successful freshman campaign. Carrying on into his junior year he posted an outstanding 2.66 ERA and knew he would play at the collegiate level. “Wootton baseball helped me develop my first few years and then was able to give me opportunities to compete against some really good competition to prove myself,” Parker said.
The gratitude from all the players to their head varsity coach, J.D. Marchand, also gives the program an edge over others. The ability for Marchand to help grow players to the point of playing at the collegiate level is because he understands how important it is to work hard while still having fun, which results in players’ love for the game increasing. “Coach Marchand runs a good program that taught me hard work, but also grew my love for the game,” Kunst said.
The program here will send athletes to the collegiate level for baseball for many years to come. “100% Coach Marchand is a great coach who pushes his athletes hard and does everything he can for them on and off the field to help them succeed in whatever they do,” Erd said.
