Emergency Heart Devices on Athletic Fields? Not Always Practical, Coaches Say

'I don’t think schools should wait for a death to get prepared.' - Mary Newman, president of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation.

It’s a nightmare scenario for parents of athletes: their child collapses in cardiac distress during or after playing a sport. At Catonsville High School, that became reality on Sept. 27, when a player from the visiting Perry Hall High School girls field hockey team collapsed after walking off the field. Coaches and parents trained in CPR responded within seconds to Breanna Sudano and worked on her until paramedics arrived. Sudana survived and may be able to play sports again. Medical officials confirmed she had suffered cardiac arrest. Catonsville High School has four Automatic External Defibrillators or AEDs, all of which were at the school but not on the field at the time of the incident, according to school officials. "I cannot …

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Early Hitting, Crafty Pitching Lead Franklin Over Catonsville, 5-2

The Indians tallied four first inning runs off the Comets, as Franklin junior Matt Goodman held the home team to two runs over seven innings pitched.

Wednesday afternoon at Catonsville, the Franklin offense struck so quickly in the top of the first inning that Indians head coach Tim Gordon lost track of the amount of runs his squad put up. The Indians opened the game with five consecutive hits (six total in the frame) and tallied four crucial, first inning runs off Comets starter Ian Baker. After the first, Baker would go on to match Indians starter Matt Goodman virtually pitch for pitch the rest of the way, but the Catonsville offense never could deliver the clutch hit, falling 5-2 in one of the more defensively sound games—for both sides—you’re bound to see in high school baseball. “Nothing like that as a coach getting a three-run lead in the first inning,” said Gordon who had to be …

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Franklin's Walsh Shines in Senior Night Win Over Catonsville

The senior forward finishes with 29 points and 16 boards to lead the Indians fourth quarter comeback in 66-64 win over the visiting Comets.

With the overall game Joe Walsh turned in Wednesday evening against Catonsville, it was fitting that the ball would be in his hands with just under 11 seconds to play and the score tied at 64. The Franklin senior, who netted a game-high 29 points to go along with 16 rebounds, set a pick for point guard Greg Ramsey just underneath the three-point arc. As Ramsey darted toward the hoop, both Comets defenders trailed along with him and when his fellow senior flipped him back the ball, Walsh had plenty of room to bury a 16-foot jumper with one second to play. “Joe had been hot all game so we knew to go right to him,” said Ramsey, who added 16 points and four assists—including the game winning pass. “I told coach to run power, that’s our play …

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Dave's Prep Report

A Few Notes from Around Western Baltimore County

Owings Mills boys look to rebound from first two losses of the season, Catonsville girls no longer control their own destiny and factors behind Franklin boys resurgence.

Anybody else sick and tired of snow yet? I know I am. I’ve already started looking at homes in Arizona—not really, I care about Patch sports far too much to even consider leaving Baltimore County! (Although I am going on a cruise toward the end of February.) Travel plans aside, the mid-week onslaught of snowfall has allotted me the free time to take a look back at the past couple of weeks of basketball action and highlight a few newsworthy happenings from around Western Baltimore County.   15th Annual Basketball Academy Unkind to Owings Mills Prior to last weekend, the Eagles were unbeaten at 13-0 and had gained some well deserved respect in the metro area by climbing into the Baltimore Sun poll at No. 15. After leaving Coppin State (the …

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Wrestling: Owings Mills Handles Visiting Catonsville

No. 6 ranked Eagles roll to 40 point victory over less experienced Comets.

Owings Mills High School’s experienced roster handled the Comets’ young lineup with ease Thursday night at Catonsville High School. The Eagles recorded eight pins on the home team en route to a 58-18 rout. “I was expecting this, but we didn’t rollover, either,” Catonsville head coach Eric Warm said. “I told them before [the meet] that if they are going to lose, they better battle and that’s what they did.” Catonsville’s points came on three pin victories by Jake Ward (119), Theo DiPace (140) and senior captain Tyler Weedon (215). Weedon, one of the top-ranked wrestlers in his weight class in the state, caught Owings Mills Russell Barnes early, pinning him in just 18 seconds. Aside from these few glitches, the Eagles dominated the meet. One…

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Dave's Prep Report

My Dirty Half-Dozen

Highlighting six players that have contributed to their teams by taking care of the "dirty work" that goes unaccounted for in the stat sheet.

Last week I introduced you to some of the premier players I’ve had the opportunity to cover in my first few months at Patch. And, while those athletes are certainly at the top of their class in Baltimore County, a lot of them wouldn’t be able to do what they do without the foundation set by the players I’m prepared to tell you about now. Regardless of how many stars a team may have, no squad is complete without a player that assumes the responsibility of handling the “dirty work” on the court—the tasks that may not get your last name into the box score for points, but are absolutely essential for a team to win. These players are arguably as important as the top performers I mentioned in last week’s entry. So, without further ado, my Dirty …

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Dave's Prep Report

Catonsville's Barber Brothers Offer Respectful, Calm Attitude—On and Off the Court

Catonsville High School basketball coaches Brian and Lenny Barber utilize a cool, collected style of coaching while working to better the lives of their athletes off the court.

A few weeks ago against county foe Franklin, Catonsville coach Brian Barber called a timeout to devise an in-bounds play from underneath the hoop. The play worked to perfection, just as he drew it up. A Comets player rolled off a back screen and found himself wide open for a point blank shot.  There was just one snag in the well executed play—Barber's player rimmed out the layup. This being my first time covering a Catonsville boys' game, I was intrigued to see how the coach would react when the player returned to the bench. Would he get in the guy's face, demanding to know how he could miss that shot? Or perhaps he'd roar in disgust for all the gym to hear, that a pre-schooler could have sunk the layup. Maybe he'd go with the always …

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