With training camp starting this week for the Ravens, that made me think about one of the first times I talked with Kevin Byrne, the team's senior vice president of public and community relations. During the summer of 1996 they were the new team in town, and Byrne and I were standing on the sidelines during one of the team’s early training camp workouts at McDaniel College. We were just shooting the breeze and watching the practice on a warm afternoon. We had a quiet conversation about how much the Baltimore Colts were so loved in this community that they were almost a religion during their …

The Pikesville boys turned in a strong performance on the second day of the state track meet on Saturday, scoring 31 points to finish with 48 overall and end up in sixth place in Class 1A. Pikesville fared well despite the high heat and humidity at Morgan State. Andre Pollard gave the Panthers an individual state crown when he won the pole vault. He took first with a vault of 13 feet. The Panthers also got two third-place finishes. Haile Kostin finished third in the 800 meters, and the 400 relay team of Quadir Rhoe, C.J. Smalley, Terrell Flanigan and Maury Sall combined to take third in that …

Two former Pikesville tennis players had a big week while competing together at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. Paul Burgin and Michael Razumovsky helped Kenyon advance to the Division III national championships, where Emory rallied to edge the Lords, 5-3. But both former Panthers then came back in a big way in the singles competition.  Razumovsky, a freshman, played Carnegie Mellon of Pittsburgh's Duke Miller and beat the No. 16 player in Division III by the score of 6-3, 7-5. After that, Razumovsky kept on rolling, rallying after losing the first set to beat Devin Nerenberg of UC-Santa Cruz…

The Pikesville boys are a young track and field team that is growing and improving. They did some more of both on the first day of the state track meet Thursday. The Panthers did well in a few events to finish with 17 points and sit fifth in Class 1A after the opening day at Morgan State. All four classes will come back on Saturday to finish the meet. In Class 1A boys, the Panthers sat in fifth place after the first six events —there are 12 more remaining. Perryville is the leader with 43 points. Pikesville did most of its damage in the relays, finishing second in the 3,200-meters and fifth …

The Milford Mill Academy boys varsity team had a big day at the Baltimore County Track & Field championship meet last Saturday. And the Pikesville JV boys didn’t fare badly either. Milford Mill edged Hereford by one point (69-68) to win the team title. The Millers won four events to hold off the Bulls in the meet at Sparrows Point High. The Pikesville JV finished second in the team competition. The Panthers ended up with 98 points, just short of victorious Hereford and its 102 points. Milford Mill’s varsity was led by Kashief Burton and his victories in the hurdle races. Burton captured the …

Pikesville High School baseball and softball teams have been getting plenty of offense in the first part of the season, but they’re still working to find victories. After winning a few games at the beginning, the softball team has struggled in recent games. The Panthers are 3-7 after their first 10 games and averaging 10.3 runs per game, much better than last year, when offense wasn’t an easy thing to find. The Panthers have been shut out just once and even scored eight runs versus a good Kenwood team in a recent game. That’s been a big difference from last year’s team, which simply couldn’t …

The Pikesville varsity softball team won just four games last spring—two of which were forfeits. But the Panthers have started a little better this season. Pikesville’s showing some punch on offense, having scored 68 runs in the first three games enroute to a 3-0 start. The Panthers routed Milford Mill and New Town before edging Patapsco last Friday. Offense was a problem at times last year. Pikesville simply couldn't score enough runs at times. But the offense and defense are doing much better, and new coach Alison Becker has been delighted with her team’s play and effort so far. "Our goal …

Being forced to watch someone celebrate a championship in front of you is one of the toughest things in sports. The Milford Mill Academy basketball program had to do it twice last weekend. The Millers lost in the both boys and girls Class 3A North Region finals. The girls came first, dropping an 84-66 decision to Aberdeen on the road Friday night. Then, on Saturday afternoon, Patterson’s boys rallied to edge host Milford Mill, 75-72. The girls ran into a very strong Aberdeen team that heads into the state semifinals with a 25-1 record. Center Bri Jones scored 40 points and was just too much …

(UPDATE--3:06 p.m. Nov. 9) The Pikesville High School girls soccer team will tried Tuesday to earn the school’s second trip to the state final four, but were defeated 3-0. Pikesville takes on top-seeded Sparrows Point in the Class 1A North Region playoffs at 5:30 p.m. at CCBC-Dundalk. Since Sparrows Point is the higher seed, the home game goes to them. In these playoffs, Pikesville entered as the No. 6 seed and got a first-round bye. That’s when the fun began. Next the Panthers scored a 2-1 road victory over Carver A&T, the No. 3 seed, according to the Maryland Public Secondary Schools …

The Pikesville Panthers posted a pair of shutouts this week, beating Woodlawn and Parkville to get over the .500 mark for the season. Pikesville improved to 3-2 this season and has won three straight games after opening the season with two consecutive losses. Pikesville’s offense had problems in the first two games this season, scoring just one goal in losses to Hereford and Franklin. However, the team has come together in its last three matches, posting 16 goals for three stragith victories.  Everything began to change last week with a 5-2 victory over Carver A&T. The tougher game this week …

After dropping its first two games of the season, the Pikesville field hockey team got on the winning side of the ledger last week as the Panthers rolled to a 5-2 victory over Carver A&T. Pikesville started out with a tough schedule, going against two good teams before faring much better against the Wildcats. The Panthers lost to Class 3A North Region runner-up Hereford, 4-0, and dropped a 4-1 decision to local rival Franklin to start the 2011 season. Hereford won the state title in 2009 while Franklin was the fifth seed in that same North Region last season. However, the Carver game opened …

The Pikesville High School volleyball team won 13 matches last season, but coach Tarese Smith’s group had a few challenges to overcome at the start of this year. The Panthers have most of their starters back, but they’ve also got a bunch of players who moved up from junior varsity, and Smith said they’ll need some time to get used to life at the varsity level. But so far, so good as Pikesville is off to a 2-1 start. Four of the team’s six starters from last year are returning, which is good for any squad. But it’s the support that Pikesville can find from the younger players that could …

This was a season of growing for the Pikesville girls’ lacrosse team. The Panthers had a group of experienced seniors, but they also used a younger bunch, and those kinds of teams go through ups and downs on a regular basis. Pikesville had its good moments, but the Panthers were mostly laying the foundation for the future. Pikesville finished with a 4-7 record. The Panthers got a first-round bye in the Class 2A-1A North Region playoffs and ran smack into Loch Raven in the second round. The Raiders ended Pikesville’s season and later advanced to the state title game, where they lost to Winters…

The Pikesville baseball team got plenty of hitting this season. They just needed some more defense and pitching. Pikesville had an impressive team batting average of .354, and the Panthers averaged 5.5 runs per game—also strong numbers. But the other problems caused too much trouble, and Pikesville finished with an 8-11 record this year. “Offensively, we had a great season,” said Pikesville coach Joe Kramer. “Our defense and pitching haunted us all year.” The Panthers had great performances at the plate from several players. Tete Obot hit .426 with 20 RBIs. Mitch Goldstein (.500, 19 RBIs), …

Pikesville softball coach Mike Behrens’ team struggled throughout the 2011 season, finishing with a 4-14 record. But Behrens saw plenty of reason for optimism for the future after the season ended. Simply put, the Panthers have some good young players that can serve as the cornerstones for this team for the next few seasons. “We do have some young freshmen that are up with [the team] that will be the nucleus for the next couple of years,” Behrens said. “That’s the promising part.” Two such freshmen are Taylor Hentzman and Emily Starobin. The coach said Hentzman will be playing first base with…

After a big victory over Sparrows Point Friday in a first-round playoff game, things didn’t go quite as well for the Pikesville baseball team Monday. Bohemia Manor rolled to a 9-0 victory over Pikesville in a Class 1A North Region second round playoff game in Cecil County. That ended the Panthers’ season, and they finished with an 8-11 record.    The Panthers just couldn’t do much on offense, getting just one hit in the seven-inning game as Bohemia Manor cruised to victory. “Some days you just have to tip your hat to the other team and say, ‘You were better than us today,” said Pikesville …

The Pikesville High School baseball team hits the road again May 16 for the second round of the Class 1A North Region playoffs. But the Panthers certainly won’t mind taking another bus ride. Pikesville is headed to No. 2 seed Bohemia Manor of Cecil County for its next playoff game following a 7-2 victory over host Sparrows Point May 13. Doug Lavin led the way throwing a two-hitter and allowing only five base runners. The Pointers got the two hits plus two walks and had another batter reach on an error. Lavin retired 13 consecutive Sparrows Point batters during one stretch. “It was great to …

It’s playoff time for the Pikesville baseball and softball teams. Each team will be playing in the Class 1A North Region playoffs, which start Thursday for the girls and Friday for the boys—and each wound up getting tough spots. The Pikesville baseball team goes into the regionals as the No. 10 seed and will be on the road at No. 7 seed Sparrows Point Friday afternoon in their opening-round game. The winner of that game heads to No. 2 seed Bohemia Manor early next week for a second-round game. That’s a tough break for Pikesville both ways, because the Panthers have to go on the road, and if …

A little bit of offense can sure go a long way. That’s what the Pikesville baseball team learned earlier this week. After losing to Loch Raven, Pikesville banged out 11 hits and rolled to a 16-1 victory over Overlea the following day. Four batters got two hits but the Panthers’ pitchers didn’t give up any hits routed the Falcons. The week began with an 11-1 loss to Loch Raven. Steven Boudoris shut down the Panthers, giving up just four hits and one unearned run. “He did a good job of mixing his pitches and really keeping our guys off balance,” said Pikesville coach Joseph Kramer. Dane Epstein…

The Pikesville baseball team has gotten some good pitching in the first half of the season. They’ve also gotten plenty of good hitting. The problem is they haven’t gotten them at the same time. Pikesville has won three games in the first half, but the Panthers are hoping for more success when the games begin again next week after spring break. Pitching is the key to any team’s success in baseball, and coach Joseph Kramer hopes to see more of it. Doug Lavin (1-4) won the final game before the break, a 12-6 victory over Randallstown. Lavin went the distance and struck out seven batters during …