Tyler Blohm stepped atop the mound Sunday at Camden Yards, the iconic Warehouse in the background and an even more monumental decision looming front and center.
The Archbishop Spalding graduate and All-Metro Player of the Year has until July 15 to decide between signing with the Orioles, who eight days ago drafted the 18-year-old in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball draft, or fulfilling his commitment to Maryland.
After the Orioles' 11-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, he got a glimpse of what one of those choices might eventually lead to when he took the field for the Brooks Robinson High School All-Star Game.
With Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette and Mid-Atlantic scout Dean Albany looking on, Blohm started and pitched two scoreless innings, striking out four batters. He then got support from Cavaliers teammate Billy Godrick, who went 2-for-3, including the game's only home run, as the South team topped the North, 5-2.
"Coming out here and throwing at the Orioles' stadium, the stadium that I've been coming to in the stands since I was a little kid … it was a huge honor," Blohm said. "It was a surreal experience. I had to take a deep breath and calm myself down a little bit."
Even so, Blohm said his decision about the future won't be rushed.
"Either way, it's going to be a hard decision, no matter where I pitch," he said. "It's a big family decision that we're going to take a while to make. Over the next week, it'll be even harder. We're going to meet with each side. Whichever one it is, I'm going to work hard to make it the right decision. I'm not sure what's going to happen these next few days. … It's up to them, the [Orioles] organization."
The South squad — led by All-Metro first-team players Blohm, Carter Sears, Barrett Smith and Godrick from Spalding and DeVonn Griffin of Hammond — collected 10 hits, scoring three runs in the second inning and one each in the third and fourth.
The game featured 30 of the state's top graduating seniors, including five players from top-ranked Spalding, the three-time Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champion.
"It's something I'll remember for a long time. No matter where baseball takes me, I'll remember I hit a home run in Camden Yards," Godrick said. "To be able to play beside these four [Spalding] guys and my coach [Joe Palumbo], that was the best part of this."
Blohm was the game's only player to have been drafted. Once play began, he showed why.
The 6-foot-3 left-hander, who finished the season 9-0 with a 0.74 ERA to lead the Cavaliers to a 27-5 record, used his above-average curveball, changeup and fastball during one stretch to strike out four of five North hitters after a first-inning double, inducing late swings on most.
The South took a 3-0 lead in the second with four straight hits off Mount Saint Joseph pitcher Zac Stoll. With a runner on first and one out, Hammond's Griffin laced a double that short-hopped the wall in right, and Taylor Cook (La Plata) and Michael Richardson (Cambridge-South Dorchester) each followed with RBI singles.
Spalding's Godrick then led off the third with a home run to left off Gaithersburg's Anthony Felitti to extend the lead to 4-0.
The South added another run in the fourth when La Plata's Tyler Stockwell hit a leadoff double, then scored on a groundout by Parkside's Matt Smith.
The North scored its only runs in the sixth, off consecutive doubles by St. James' Ryan Brown, Smithburg's Joey Schwartz and Boonsboro's Dalton Stewart. Hammond pitcher David Hutchinson eventually retired the side to end the threat.
On a special day for all, Calvert Hall pitcher Trevor Sprinkle echoed the feelings of most.
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"I grew up loving the Orioles. To play on this field is just something special," said Sprinkle, who will attend Miami Dade College. "I'll definitely remember this my whole life."
