Pallotti Grad Pittman Will Play Football at Towson

St. Vincent Pallotti High, a private school in downtown Laurel, hosted graduation ceremonies on Wednesday at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. That means several seniors from last year's football team can now begin to prepare in full for the fall, when they hope to be freshmen on college teams.

Derek Pittman, a standout offensive lineman, will be a preferred walk-on at Towson University, a Division I-AA program in the powerful Colonial Athletic Association. Towson was the site earlier this week for informal workouts held by several members of the Baltimore Ravens. Pittman also had the chance to be a preferred walk-on for the Terps but went with Towson.

"I kind of got lost in the fray with the coaching change" at Maryland, Pittman told Patch on Friday. "As time went on Towson became (the school). I know the first year it is highly unlikely (to play a lot). I am going to work as hard as I can. It is a good conference."

Pittman attracted some attention last fall from the college programs at the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia. Among those that paid a visit was James Franklin, the former associate head coach at Maryland who has since taken the head job at Vanderbilt.

Charles Bankins, a former Laurel resident, is a former Maryland assistant who joined the staff of Franklin at Vanderbilt as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

Pittman, a resident of Greenbelt, is 6-foot-5, 290 pounds.

Towson has been at the bottom of the pack in the CAA, which has sent several schools to the national championship game the past few years: Delaware in 2007 and 2010, Villanova in 2009 and Richmond in 2008. The Wildcats won the title in 2009 and the Spiders won in 2008.

Towson was 1-10 overall and 0-8 in the CAA last season under head coach Rob Ambrose, a 1993 graduate of the school. Pittman said he has dealt with Towson assistant coach Derrick Johnson, a standout at Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt who played cornerback at the University of North Carolina.

Other Pallotti grads expected to be with college team later this year, according to former head coach Pat Courtemanche, are Greg Jewett (Salisbury), Justin Clatworthy (Widener) and J.T. Noland (West Virginia Wesleyan College).

Noland, a Laurel resident, told Patch on Friday that West Virginia Wesleyan is a Division II program and the alma mater of Courtemanche.

"Football was not my reason for going to college," said Noland, an offensive lineman at Pallotti who will walk on. "Having a team to play on is a bonus."

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Noland plans to major in psychology. He played football for two years at Pallotti and was also on the swim team. Noland also looked at Salisbury and McDaniel but felt West Virginia Wesleyan was the best fit and he has been in contact with the coaches there.

Pallotti's Tyler Drew, who transferred from DeMatha, also hopes to play in college, according to Courtemanche. Pittman said Drew plans to play at Delaware State.

Laurel High Outdoor Track in State Meet

The Laurel High 4 x 400 boys relay team hopes to defend its state title this weekend at the Maryland meet in Baltimore. But the Spartans could be without standout L'Zerek Chapman, according to head coach Kennon Broadhurst.

Chapman suffered a hamstring injury in the regional meet last weekend, the coach wrote in an e-mail. Without Chapman, Laurel was third in the region in a time of 3:20, back of DuVal and Suitland. Chapman has also excelled in the 100 and 200 this season.

The state meet is slated to begin Friday at 4 p.m. at Morgan State and conclude on Saturday, with a start time of 10 a.m. Will Chapman compete this weekend?

"It will probably be a race-time decision. He still does not have his full range of motion and right now he's probably 70 percent.  If we wrap the muscle enough he could run, but we could run the risk in making the injury worse.  So right now it will be a race-time decision. Trying to be as cautious as possible," Broadhurst wrote Friday morning.

Kalane Abbey of the girls team qualified for the 200 meters with a time of 25.49 that was good for second in the region. She was first in the 400 in 57.4. Laurel freshman Karen Vital (200), Megan Brown (400) and sophomore Florence James (shot put) just missed qualifying for the state meet. The Laurel 4 x 400 relay was second in 4:01 with a strong kick from anchor Brown, a freshman.

Joel Roberson qualified for the state meet in the boys 400 with a 49.56, good for fourth, according to Broadhurst. Michael McCoy (39.40) qualified in the 300 hurdles with a second-place finish. McCoy ran the 300 hurdles, 800 meters and 4 x 400 relay in a span of one hour.

Pallotti Baseball Falls to DeMatha

The Pallotti High baseball team lost to DeMatha, 7-1, on Tuesday in the first round of the state private-school tournament at Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro. It was the first meeting between the teams since Pallotti began the 2010 season with a loss at DeMatha, 29-1.

Steve Martin drove in the only run for Pallotti on Tuesday. Jackson Souder was the starting and loser pitcher for the Panthers. "He kept us in the game," head coach Pat Courtemanche said. "We made a couple of mistakes. We just didn't execute." But the Pallotti coach was proud of his team after losing by a wide margin to DeMatha last year.

Riverdale Baptist lost to Archbishop Spalding on Thursday, and Spalding and DeMatha are slated to meet on Friday night for the title at the University of Maryland.

Junior shortstop Matt DeFrank, senior pitcher/infielder Souder and junior pitcher/catcher Corey Dirks were named all-MIAA first team in the B league earlier this week.#30

Rodgers Gains Lacrosse Honor

Billy Rodgers, a senior this spring for Pallotti, was named earlier this week to the all-MIAA boys lacrosse team, according to first-year head coach Kris Weaver.

Rodgers is slated to play in college at Salisbury, which will face Tufts on Sunday at 7 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore for the Division III national title. Salisbury lost to Tufts last season in the title game. Rodgers also competed in swimming at Pallotti.

Lott Has Fine Career in Softball

Pallotti graduate Megan Lott concluded a four-year career with the softball team at Division III Gettysburg (PA) College. A senior outfielder, she hit .287 this season. As a junior she led the team in hitting at .379 and was an all-Centennial Conference performer. The Bullets were 19-17 this year.