Archbishop Moeller head coach Tim Held (front) has a wealth of returning talent including (back row left to right): Zachariah Logue, Riley Mahan, Nicholas Voss, Augustus Ragland and Thomas Storer.
Photo by Wayne Litmer
Few teams in the country can boast the type of history or alumni like Archbishop Moeller. Home to Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., Moeller has won seven state championships in its history, including the last two Ohio Division I state titles.
With its top two hitters and nearly 80 percent of its innings pitched returning this year, the Fighting Crusaders have a great shot at adding to that illustrious history by winning an unprecedented third-straight state championship. Moeller also begins the season ranked No. 10 in the MaxPreps Preseason Baseball Rankings.
Over the next two weeks, MaxPreps will count down the top 10 teams in the preseason national rankings starting with No. 10 Archbishop Moeller. The countdown will conclude Feb. 21 with the announcement of the preseason Top 100.
Moeller has had a long history of success, beginning with its first state championship in 1972 under longtime coach Mike Cameron. In 50 seasons, Moeller has had 45 winning seasons and has had 28 seasons with 20 or more wins. Cameron had the bulk of those, posting a 767-304-1 record in his 39 years at the helm. He won four state titles during that time with five regional championships.
Coach Tim Held took over as head coach in 2008 and has made his own mark on the program. In six seasons under Held, the Crusaders have won five regional championships and three state titles.
"We are back-to-back Division I state champions in Ohio and have won three of the last six state titles," said Held. "We return about 80 percent of our innings pitched from our 32-2 state championship team. Our offense and defense should also be strong but we will have to figure some of the open positions."
Shortstop Riley Mahan
Photo by Wayne Litmer
One position that remains solid is shortstop, where
Riley Mahan returns for his senior season. A Kentucky commit, he is also a possible MLB Draft pick. He batted .406 last year and his 41 runs scored rank second in school history.
Zachariah Logue, also a Kentucky commit, paces a pitching staff with plenty of depth. He went 8-1 last year and was also the team's top hitter with a .455 average when he played in the outfield. Senior
Augustus Ragland also returns, bringing with him a 7-0 record and a 0.69 ERA.
"Logue and Ragland were the starters for all seven tournament games in which we outscored our opponents 82-8," said Held.
A third pitcher,
Nicholas Voss, went 5-1 last season and has already committed to Cincinnati.
Thomas Storer (2-0) will also get more work this year when he's not playing first base.
Held also has a strong group of juniors moving up, including two who have already committed to play college ball.
Josh Hollander, who has committed to Kent State, will play in the infield while
Jordan Ramey, a Cincinnati commit, will join Logue in the outfield.
View gallery of the Archbishop Moeller preseason photo shoot
