Pitching will dominate county baseball this season. And two of the best arms belong to Atholton's Brian Gick and Bryan Egolf.

With theRaiders' third pitcher, Richard Blankenship, these players will giveAtholton the county's best pitching staff, and they are the main reason the team is favored to win the county title. It would be Atholton's third championship in the last four seasons.

Other teams also have some fine pitchers, however, and will challenge them.

Brian Bickerton (Centennial), Andy Young (Oakland Mills), Mike Miller (Mount Hebron), Tait Arend (Howard) and Kevin Roland (Glenelg) have proven ability, and all should excel.

Hebron, Oakland Mills and Wilde Lake each return at least eight players from last year, and should be competitive.

Hammond, Glenelg and Centennial each have a strong returning nucleus.

Here is a closer look at each school.

Atholton

The Raiders were as good as any team in the league over the second half of last season, winning five of their last six games, including a victory over county champion Hammond.

Sincethat team returns nearly intact, and since last year's top teams alltook heavy graduation losses, Atholton appears to be way ahead of the pack. The Raiders will start seven experienced seniors. Gick is an impressive right-handed pitcher and shortstop. Egolf is an equally impressive left-hander and outfielder. Both throw reasonably hard, havebreaking balls and know how to pitch.

The only returning junior is catcher Kevin Nickey, an excellent defensive player.

Brian Van Deusen, a great defensive player, was an All-County first-team selection two years ago before slumping a bit last season. He led the team with a .292 average.

Atholton (9-11 overall, 7-7 league) did not hit well last year, but look for strong improvement in that category.

"On paper, we look decent," second-year coach Kevin Kelly said. "I anticipate being better."

Atholton's field underwent a transformation since last year. It is now the first high school field equipped with dugouts, thanks to a hard-working boosters club.

Centennial

The Eagles flew high last year, finishing second to Hammond. But graduation decimated the team, which returns just four players.

Luckily for Centennial (14-10 overall, 10-4 league), one of those is All-County pitcher Brian Bickerton, the only junior to make the first-teamsquad last year. Bickerton went 8-2 with a 1.63 earned run average. He fanned 70 and walked 33 in 60 innings. He also beat powerful MountSt. Joe from Baltimore, 1-0, in last year's opener. His batting average was .388 (19-for-49) with three doubles, three homers and 16 RBI.

Bickerton plays shortstop when not pitching.

Senior third baseman Chris Calamari has some pop in his bat, as does senior outfielderBrian Kujawa.

The Eagles are young. They'll start three sophomores, including first baseman/outfielder David Hudson and second basemanJoe Mellendick.

Centennial's No. 2 pitcher figures to be junior Brent Mertes, who also can hit with power.

"Our pitching and defense figures to be equal to last year, but we'll probably have less offense," second-year coach Ron Martin said. "Last year our lineup was set, but this year we'll be juggling it."

Glenelg

The Gladiators (6-14 overall, 5-9 league) return five starters, including pitcher Kevin Roland (4-2) and second-team All-County shortstop Joe Goldberg, who batted .350.

Matt Drumand looks solid at second base and will lead off. Bri

an Boteler, a sophomore who started last year at third base, returns. And Jason Beall, a junior outfielder who was broughtup at mid-season last year, batted .300.

Junior Jeff Lewis won eight games for the junior varsity and is expected to fill the No. 2 pitching role.

David Buckholtz, a junior first baseman, should hit well.

And Greg Corrick, a senior catcher who hasn't played the pasttwo seasons, fills what could have been a gaping vacancy behind the plate.

Coach Terry Coleman thinks his team can contend for a championship, but he is concerned about scoring enough runs.

"Our strength is defense, and pitching will be an asset," said Coleman.

Hammond

The defending county champion Bears graduated two All-County pitchers, including Player of the Year Joe Nestor. That's the main reason they appear headed for a tumble back to the middle of the pack.

What might save the Bears is a transfer player from South Carolina,pitcher Mike Kaplan. Coach Bob Maxey already has him penned in as the No. 1 starter.

Then there's 6-foot-4, 210-pound, hard-throwing senior Curtis Barnard, and 6-foot-6, 220-pound senior Richard Williamson.

If those two produce, the Bears could be tough indeed.

One reason for optimism is junior shortstop Matt Cyran. The second-team All-County player batted .380 last season and should be one of the county's top players again.

Josh Zinnamon, a senior first baseman, is6-foot-2 and 200 pounds and can hit with power. And Joe Busick at second base and Joe Brewer in the outfield are solid returning players.

"We probably won't shut anyone out, so we'll have to score a lot of runs," Maxey said. "I think the league is more balanced, and this year's winner may drop three or four games."

Howard

Prospects for improvement are soaring for the Lions, who had a dismal 2-18 season last year.

Howard has one excellent pitcher returning, Tait Arend, who hit .330 last year. Two other pitchers, Marty Wright and Brad Montcastle, give the Lions depth at that spot.

Howard's top pitcher last year, and one of the best in the league, Tony Saunders, transferred to Glen Burnie.

The Lions also have catching depth, with four catchers on the roster, led by senior Adam Eldridge.

The big story surrounds the four first-year seniors who've come out for the team. Outfielders Scotty Scott and Bryan Ridgell, and infielders Dave Jones and Chris Keary, give the Lions the kind of experience they sorelylacked last season.

"These guys all have played a lot of baseball, but just not for Howard," Coach Tony Miceli said. "We had a great turnout this year of 54 kids."

Miceli thinks the influx of experienced players, pitching and a positive attitude should push the Lions to the middle of the pack this year.

Mount Hebron

The Vikings (12-8, 8-6) are coming off a good season and return eight players. One of those is pitcher Mike Miller, potentially one of the best in the league.

Catcher Tony Yanero is back after batting .330, and so is first baseman Chris Leineur, who hit .340.

Still, Coach Dave Appleby thinks his offense is suspect.

"We'll depend on pitching, and ifthat holds up, we'll do OK," he said.

Behind Miller is senior left-hander Alan Vandeberg and junior Eric Volland. Senior Ken Reynolds figures to pitch in relief.

Appleby looks for the traditional baseball powers -- Atholton, Centennial and Glenelg -- to be the teams tobeat.

"Our goal is to make the playoffs," he said.

The team hasn't accomplished that during Appleby's four previous years as coach.

Oakland Mills

The season is not off to a good start for first-year coach Bill Winder.

The Scorpions return eight players, including three starters, from a winning team (10-8, 8-6).

But Winder had to dismiss six players coming up from the junior varsity team because they were allegedly involved in beating up another Oakland Mills student.

At least three of those players probably would have started, he said.

But he still has a good nucleus built around pitcher Andy Young, catcher Tony Scarzello and pitcher Steve Finkill, all of whom started last year.

"Our strength will be pitching," Winder said. "Our defense is good. The infield is solid. And we have the potential to hit."

Winder will start seven seniors, all of whom played some kind of summer baseball.

"Our seniors are providing leadership, and we should be in every game if the pitching and defense hold up," he said.

Wilde Lake

First-year coach Tim O'Brien is tight-lipped about his team's plusses and minuses, perhaps hoping to spring a few surprises.

He said the team's strength is its desire to improve. And he said the team's goal is to "take control of our game."

There's not much that will strike fear in opponents in either of thosestatements. They sound like they're coming from a coach who doesn't expect to win many games.

But before anyone overlooks the Wildecats, they should remember that former All-County shortstop Bill Ferguson, a junior, plays for Wilde Lake. And hard-hitting senior third baseman Bobby Lane, a second team All-County pick last year, also is a Wildecat.

Dan Wahlberg and Shawn Besserer will be the starting pitchers who will make or break the Wildecats.

Wilde Lake was 6-11 overall and 3-11 in the league, so there's only one way to go this season-- up.