The only head football coach Oakdale High School has ever had,  Kurt Stein, is the guest this Sunday on Frederick County Sports Weekend on WFMD Radio and WFMD.COM!

Coach Stein told WFMD's Ed Lulie he is especially excited about this coming season which begins in less than a month!  For one thing he says that Oakdale's offense will again be explosive!    Let's look at just how explosive the Bears were in 2016:   68 points against Washington, West Virginia, 42 points against Westminster, 41 points against Cape Henlopen, Del., 42 points against Urbana, 53 points against Catoctin, 36 points against Linganore, 42 points against Thomas Johnson, 34 points against Tuscarora, not a bad scoring pace!    The Bears finished the year 9-3 with a total of 443 points scored.    Stein has coached Oakdale since the beginning of the school in 2010 and has improved the Bear's record every year:   In 2010 it was a JV schedule, in 2011: 0-10, in 2012: 2-8, in 2013: 6-4, in 2014: 8-3, in 2015: 8-3, in 2016: 9-3.   Not a bad record of progress.  And one thing Coach Stein emphasized to Ed Lulie is the great community and student support for the team.   Any visitor to the Bear's stadium on a Friday night has witnessed the students cheering long before kickoff time and the parents swarming the field as volunteers.   What will the Bears look like in 2017?

If you want to watch some good baseball, mostly for free, on  these warm summer days and nights near downtown Frederick you should just take a walk over to historic McCurdy Field and watch some American Legion games.  

Coach Tommy Long, who has been coaching  for 43 years, says he has a young , promising and hard working team with a chance to make the state Legion playoffs.  Upcoming games include the Fourth of July weekend "wooden bats" Tournament with 17 teams taking part.   Frederick will take on national power Brooklawn, NJ at 8:15 pm Sunday night (7/2) at McCurdy.  

Looking ahead to Saturday, July 8, there is an 11:00 am doubleheader with Frederick hosting Funkstown.   The two players who accompanied Coach Long to the WFMD studios are having excellent seasons.  A.J. Javitt, who plays his high school baseball at St. Johns, is hitting .451 with an impressive .508 on base percentage.   Kevin Schwenger is batting .366 with a .423 OBP.    

Kevin plays for Frederick HS.  Both are in love with baseball and easily put up with the extremely hectic and busy summer schedule of games that sometimes has them reporting to the field at 8 o'clock in the morning.  

Frederick was 12-10 on the year as we recorded the interview program. Post #11 got off to a quick 6-0 start but then fell into the familiar baseball pattern of "up and down." But Coach Long says he loves the potential of this team and admires the work ethic.  I think you will be impressed with these two young players and their veteran coach!

Steve Nibbs has many stories to tell and one of the most interesting is how he rose to the position of AD at Thomas Johnson.   It wasn't a smooth route.   There were fits and starts.   In fact an early failure gave him the experience and confidence to finally get the job.  

Another  "must listen" part of the interview is when Nibbs thinks back to the best coaches he ever worked with and the qualities that set them apart.  How about the night that former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams came to the TJ gym to scout a player?   What does veteran coach Nibbs think of the "shot clock" rule finally going into effect for Maryland boys high school basketball this coming season?  

Nibbs coached high school football for years.  Is it a safe sport?   Can it be made safer?   Steve Nibbs has some in depth analysis on that one.   In his opinion, what is the fastest growing high school sport these days?   What will he miss the most about his job of the last 13 years which was running a high school sports program?  

I wonder how many people knew Nibbs was a long time high school softball coach at TJ who guided his team to a state championship and to the state semifinals several other times?   Why did he finally give up that job?  

And Nibbs talks about the world of coaching high school sports prior to 1972 when coaches worked for free!   Incredible but true!  

All of this and much more as we talk with retiring Athletic Director Steve Nibbs!

The WFMD/Nymeo Federal Credit Union High School Athletes of the Month for May,  Jaida Smith of Frederick High School and Riley McDermott of Middletown High School!

These two stars of Track and Field won championships all season long but then capped it off at the State of Maryland High School Meet at Morgan State by each winning two state championships!

Jaida Smith took the 3A 100 meter and 200 meter dash and Riley McDermott won the 2A  800 meter run and the 1,600 meter run.  Both also competed in other events at states.  Both are juniors and will be back next year for the Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field seasons. Jaida's winning times were 12.15 in the 100 and 24.53 in the 200. Riley's winning time in the 800 was 1:53.8 and  4:23.93  in the 1,600 (still basically called the mile). These are all around athletes as Riley regularly competes on two relay teams for Middletown and Jaida is a 3A West Regional Champion of the Long Jump and also competes in relay races.  

Both are rising seniors but have been actively exploring the college scene.  Riley is leaning toward Georgetown University and already knows the track coach there. Jaida is looking at Harvard and several other Ivy League schools. Both also give credit to their coaches. Jaida admires the leadership of Rob Dixon at Frederick as the Frederick Girls Track  team captured a state team championship this year. And Riley says Coach Paul Spurrior helped him come back from a lost sophomore year when he had Achilles tendonitis. He said Coach Spurrior developed some brutal workouts that helped him win at states.

You can relive Middletown's bizarre 7-5 2A West Region Championship win over Marriott's Ridge that lasted over four hours and 12 innings and had more twists and turns than a NASCAR road course.   Knight's Coach Andy Baker said in a lifetime of baseball, it was the craziest game he has ever seen.   But the Knights overcame a 4-0 deficit,  hung in and won it as they did so many times during the 2017 season.  But what about the Sectional semi final 4-2 road win over a very strong Catoctin team?  An emotional ordeal to be sure!   Middletown again trailed late with Catoctin ace Zach Scott pitching a masterpiece as he neared his pitch count limit.   The Knights rallied and Connor Stevens stroked a two run single to give the Knights the lead and the win.  Then the state semifinals at Harford Community College and a very strong opponent on a 12 game winning streak,  La Plata.  Middletown went up 3-0,  La Plata tied it 3-3,  and the Knights bounced right back for 3 more runs and then great relief pitching by Robbie Houck.  And finally the Championship game at Ripken Stadium against Fallston turned out to be easier than what had come before and starting pitcher Matt Dillard got stronger as the game went along and an 8-0 win for Middletown and the first state baseball championship in the history of the school.   The 3 Middletown players and head coach Baker, who squeezed into the WFMD studio this week, all agreed the 21-5 championship season was the result of team work and a culture of helping  teammates and working together.  No one exemplifies that more than Jake Paulishak, out for the season with Tommy John surgery, who attended every practice and game to encourage and cheer for his teammates.

This is a real team and Coach Pam Hexter said she got the head coaching position at TJ Boys Track and Field after her own sons had gone through the sports program  and she was able to juggle her fulltime job with the hours it takes to coach high school sports.  

Lets just say there are some busy schedules involved!  

You will never meet a more mature, well mannered, group of young men then the 4 that came to the WFMD studios representing TJ Boys Track. And you can see the respect they have for Coach Hexter.   And they love competition and taking part  in the different events.    Cheyenne Johnson placed third in the 800 meter run in the recent 3A state of Maryland Meet.

If you look at the final 2017 Track and Field season statistics for Frederick County you will find TJ well represented. Johnson holds first place in the 110 meter hurdles, Dustin Miller is third in the shot put, Bruce Ferguson is third in the Pole Vault, Johnson is second in the Long Jump, Sean Burrus is second in the Triple Jump. The team members discussed how Track and Field is a lifetime sport which you can compete in for years after high school.

-Pete

What a Junior year for Lacrosse star Jordan Swoyer.   Scoring 106 points, setting a Linganore team record for assists in a season and leading the Lancers to an undefeated regular season, a regional title,  and a final mark of 17-1!    

And what a Freshman year for Oakdale Track and Field standout Lauren Leatherman! At different times during the season, Lauren was either first or second in the county in a vast assortment of events: Triple Jump, 400 Meter Dash, 100 Meter High Hurdles, Long Jump,  800 Meter Run,  and High Jump. She ended up winning the 400 Meter and 800 Meter runs and finishing second in the Long Jump at the CMC Regional Meet at the end of the season.  

What is fascinating about the accomplishments of these two athletes is that the best may be yet to come.   Of course Swoyer was a member of last year's Linganore Lacrosse state champions and part of the incredible 34 winning streak. It is hard to believe but Leatherman, now a threat at states, was an 8th grader last year!