April 1, 1980
It would have been difficult for the spring training season to have ended with a greater sense of league parity. Three teams--the Frederick Colts, Annapolis Admirals, and Columbia Oaks--ended with 13-11 records, and the other three--the Salisbury Emeralds, Hagerstown Shelties, and Bowie Blue Sox--finished up at 11-13.
Among the hitters who looked sharp in the spring were Hagerstown's
Chris Hurt, who hit .413, slugged .667, and posted a .531 OBP; Bowie's
Dave Lawson, who put up a .700 slugging percentage and hit three homers; and Columbia OF
Bert Duke, who hit .400 with a .526 OBP.
Several pitchers enjoyed good spring seasons, too. Frederick's
Ken DeWitt allowed only eight hits in 16 innings and struck out 17.
Brett Kemp of Hagerstown allowed only 3 earned runs in 16 frames and recorded 15 Ks and only two walks. Columbia's
Mikulas Kajer threw 16 innings with a 1.69 ERA, walking one batter and striking out 11.
The spring prognostications are in, and here's how they look:
The experts think Frederick's young OF,
Angel DeLeon, has emerged as a potential star. He was chosen in Round 4 of the inaugural draft. Salisbury's Round 9 selection, OF
Pedro Viera, also looks like he could be poised for a good season. Viera's teammate, hard-throwing RHP
Rickey Francis, is also being talked about as a surprising breakout star.
Emeralds fans have to be optimistic when they look at these predictions, while up in Annapolis, they're largely discounting them as nothing more than shots i the dark. We'll see who was right, and who was wrong, in September.