Harford Baseball Adds Three More to Incoming Class

From the HCC sports desk:

BEL AIR, Md.—Three more players will join the Harford baseball team next season to bring the incoming class total to 11 players after Brock Krumanocker (Glen Arm, Pa./Kutztown), a senior from Kutztown Area High School in Pennsylvania, Jordan Heller (Baltimore, Md./Loch Raven/Chesapeake), a sophomore-transfer from Chesapeake College, and Aaron Jones (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg), a senior from Mechanicsburg Area High School in Pennsylvania, committed to play for the Fighting Owls.

Heller, a 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher and outfielder, saw action in just four games for the Skipjacks, but struck out 11 batters in 9.1 innings for an average of 10.60 strikeouts per nine innings and posted a 1-0 record.

“Jordan is going to have an instant impact on the team next year,” said head coach Tom Eller. “He will solidify our lineup, both as a strong hitter and by seeing time in the outfield, and will strengthen our starting pitching rotation as well as adding leadership qualities and a great commitment to academics.”

At Loch Raven, Heller was a standout athlete for the Raiders’ baseball, wrestling, football and track and field teams. During his senior year in 2008, he was named First-Team All-Baltimore County and Second-Team All-Metro by The Baltimore Sun and picked up First Team All-Baltimore County and All-Digital honors from DigitalSports.com for baseball, while also being named the Loch Raven MVP for both wrestling and baseball, and earning the Coaches’ Award for the football team. Heller, who led the Raiders with a .563 average, 32 RBI, and seven homers and posted a 9-3 record and 2.21 ERA on the mound in 2008, also set a new school record for most strikeouts in a career by fanning 113 batters. The four-sport player extended his success to the classroom as well, with Heller picking up All-Academic honors for the Raiders during the baseball and wrestling seasons and finishing his freshman year at Chesapeake with a cumulative GPA over 3.0.

Krumanocker was also a multi-sport athlete, competing for the Cougars’ baseball and wrestling teams. The 5-foot-11 righty and first baseman has seen his fair share of success with Kutztown, helping the Cougar baseball team to two Berks County Division IV titles (2006, 2008), two Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District III-AA titles (2006, 2007), a PIAA-AA state finals appearance in 2007 and PIAA District III-AA semifinal finishes in 2008 and 2009. For his efforts, Krumanocker has been named the MVP of his Kutztown team, All-Berks by The Reading Eagle and to the prestigious Berks County Carpenter Cup team for both 2008 and 2009. He also garnered a selection to the Junior Olympic Baseball Tournament held in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2007 and was picked for the American Legion Select team in 2008.

“Brock is an unbelievable all-around athlete and person,” said Eller. “Even as a freshman, he will be an instant leader and will bring a lot of positives to the team, including serving as a great example of how a player should handle himself both on and off the field. He will see significant playing time at first and third base as well as on the hill.”

In 2008, Krumanocker posted a .432 average at the plate with three homers, eight doubles and 20 RBI, and a 4-2 record with a 2.51 ERA on the mound. He surpassed those marks his senior season with a 7-1 record and 2.08 ERA, held his opponents to a .181 average and hit .348 himself, while also notching the first perfect game in school history. Krumanocker and the Cougars blanked Central Catholic, 6-0, on March 27, with the pitcher fanning six batters and retiring 21 straight batters in just 65 pitches.

Jones, a 6-foot pitcher-catcher was recently named co-MVP of Keystone Division of the Mid-Penn Conference after leading the Wildcats to their first Keystone Division title since 2003 and a Mid-Penn Conference runner-up finish. Jones was a four-year starter for Mechanicsburg, during which he saw the team earn its first PIAA District 3-AAAA playoff appearance in three years (2005), during his junior season of 2008, and led the Wildcats to their first district win as he belted a game-winning, two-run homer to propel Mechanicsburg to a play-in round victory over Red Lion in 2009.

“Aaron is a big strong player and will likely improve a great deal, due to the fact that he is very raw,” said Eller. “He is a very versatile player and can add depth behind the plate, in the outfield and out of the pen.”

For the season, Jones finished with a .420 average along with seven doubles and two homers, and was equally impressive on the mound, posting a 5-3 record with 43 strikeouts, one save and a 2.27 ERA over 46.1 innings pitched.