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Sports

Former Nationals' Minor Leaguer Now Aids Prepsters

St. Vincent Pallotti High JV baseball coach played for top farm club of Washington after a college career at Pfeiffer in North Carolina.

Matt DeFrank, a junior shortstop, charged a slow roller in a recent game for St. Vincent Pallotti High. But he did not make the play cleanly for the Panthers, who are off to a strong start for head coach Pat Courtemanche.

When DeFrank got to the dugout he went right to varsity assistant David Sheridan, 28, also a first-year JV head coach for the Panthers.

"What did I do wrong?" DeFrank asked Sheridan, who played middle infield for the Washington Nationals' farm club at Triple A Columbus in 2007 before a labrum injury ended his short pro career.

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Sheridan told DeFrank, one of several standout Pallotti juniors, he raised his head too soon before fielding the ball. Later in the game DeFrank fielded a slow groundball that was almost identical to the earlier play. And this time he threw the runner out at first. "He looked over in the dugout and pointed at me," Sheridan said. "That made me feel good."

Sheridan was born in Chicago and played high school ball in Oregon. He played soccer as a college freshman at Marist, in New York, but fared poorly on the academic side and eventually played two years of baseball at a community college in Catonsville. Sheridan got his grades up and earned a baseball and academic scholarship to Pfeiffer, a Division II school in North Carolina.

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He graduated from Pfeiffer in 2006 and was playing in a semi-pro league in Carroll County when he was scouted by the Nationals. He was drafted in the 11th round by Washington in 2007. A 6-foot-3 left-handed hitter, he hit .313 with two homers in 399 at bats with Columbus in his only pro season that year.

Among his teammates at Columbus were Darnell McDonald, a former first-round pick of the Orioles who has played in the major leagues for Baltimore, Minnesota, Cincinnati and Boston. Another player for Columbus in 2007 was pitcher John Lannan, now a starter for the Nationals.

So how did Sheridan, with ties to Illinois, Oregon and North Carolina, end up as the JV head coach at Pallotti, a private school in Laurel? By accident, really. He and his brother moved into a home their parents owned in Howard County. Less than a year ago Courtemanche, the longtime Pallotti High baseball coach, and his family moved to the same neighborhood near Elkridge.

The two met for the first time this winter and each discovered the other's baseball roots. Courtemanche told Sheridan he was looking for a head JV coach, and the former minor league player worked with Pallotti players this past winter during indoor workouts.

"I have seen what it takes to get there," Sheridan told Patch on Monday. "The JV coach's job is get these guys ready for varsity. You need someone that knows baseball to prepare these freshmen and sophomores." Courtemanche said Sheridan's experience in pro ball is a big asset to the Pallotti players.

"The kids look up to him. He has been in their shoes," Courtemanche said Tuesday morning. "It is good to have someone that has been there. The guys loving having him around."

During the day, Sheridan works in inventory at the Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills. When the Pallotti varsity team has a home game he will stop JV practice and allow those players to watch some of the varsity game. Sheridan also helps out with the varsity team during its many Saturday games when the JV team is not playing.

On Monday, Sheridan took his JV team to play at Archbishop Carroll in Washington, D.C. The Panthers lost and fell to 6-4 overall this season.

Courtemanche relies on Sheridan to instruct Pallotti players on infield play and hitting. "Those are the biggest things," Sheridan said. "I don't know pitching. I don't know the outfield."

Sheridan has been impressed with DeFrank, the varsity shortstop who had two hits and two walks on Monday in a 5-2 win against Boys' Latin. "He reminds me of myself when I was a junior in high school. He has potential," Sheridan said.

And that play DeFrank made in a recent game, after taking some tips from Sheridan, was a shining moment for the former Nationals' farmhand. "That is why I coach," said Sheridan, in his first stint as a baseball coach at any level.

Baseball notes: The Laurel High baseball team beat Flowers, 19-4, Monday ... Ryan Basile and Johnny Maloney had the only other hits for Pallotti in the win over Boys' Latin on Monday. But pitcher Corey Dirks went all seven innings and allowed just six hits and two runs with eight strikeouts. DeFrank drove in two runs for the Panthers ... Travis Stewart, a Pallotti grad, has pitched in two games and has an ERA of 15.43 for Division I College of Charleston.

 

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