Riverdale Baptist Perfect Model For Success

by • Featured Stories

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.
Editor/Collegiate Baseball

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — One of the top high school baseball programs in the nation for decades has been Riverdale Baptist located in Upper Marlboro, Md.

The Crusaders have won 20 or more games the past 32 years and posted 30 wins on 20 occasions since 1986.

Last season, the team rolled to a 30-1 record and finished fourth in Collegiate Baseball’s national high school poll.

A dynamic coach named Terry Terrill was the skipper for 38 years until his son Ryan took over in 2015.

Terry’s record as a head coach was a remarkable 1,008-251 while Ryan is 95-11 in three seasons. This father and son duo has coached together for the past 12 seasons.

Riverdale Baptist has had 22 players drafted while hundreds have gone on to play in college.

The centerpiece of this program is one of the nation’s most electric running games year in and year out.

Over the past three seasons, the Crusaders have stolen 153 bases in 2017, 186 in 2016 and 180 in 2015 for a total of 519 over the past three seasons.

Riverdale Baptist has stolen an average of 173 bases during that span with just under five stolen bases per game.

Keep in mind they only play an average of 35 games a season which make these numbers even more astounding.

Terry said his system for many years has involved being aggressive on the base paths to put intense pressure on opponents.

“We work hard on reading pitchers and getting good jumps,” said Terry. “A batter who hits a single is always looking to take the extra base at second with any type of bobble.

“If a runner is on second, we work on reading balls in the dirt as he takes off toward third. We are ultra aggressive and take advantage of anything we can to advance runners.”

Once a week, baseball players work with Speed Training Coach Bernard Williams.

He is a former USA Olympic Gold Medalist as part of the 4 x 100 relay team during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games.

To read more of this article, purchase the Oct. 6, 2017 edition of Collegiate Baseball or subscribe by CLICKING HERE. It features in-depth information on Riverdale Baptist’s aggressive running approach, how their fast paced practices are done, why they are careful with criticism to players, different jumps runners work on and much more.

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