Maryland outfielder Mike Montville will transfer to Southern New Hampshire at the end of the season according to Mike Zhe of Fosters.com. Montville will be entering his redshirt senior season in the fall of 2014 after suffering an elbow injury during the 2013 season which allowed he to get a medical redshirt.
Montville states in the article from Fosters.com that he is transferring due to the fact that the Terps are heading into the Big Ten next season and the Maryland style brought in by second year head coach John Szefc which focuses on bunting doesn’t fit his style well.
Montville emphasized he has no animosity toward his coaches at Maryland — John Szefc replaced Erik Bakich after his sophomore year — nor his teammates, whom he considers some of his best friends.
But circumstances? That’s another story.
Recruited as a power hitter, it’s been a tough two years trying to get on the good side of Szefc, whose philosophy is get on base at all costs and manufacture runs, through the use of bunts, infield hits, whatever it takes.
It’s tough to argue with the results. Szefc has the Terps (33-19) headed back in the ACC tournament and they’ll finish above. 500 in ACC play. But there have been casualties.
“He likes the runners, the small-ball guys,” said the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Montville. “If you look at me, I’m not a runner. I run OK. But our coach is really big on putting the ball in play, hitting it on a line, beating out a lot of ground balls. I’m not going to beat out a lot of ground balls.”
Last year was supposed to be Montville’s draft year, his chance to join a big-league organization and get his start with a short-season Single-A team, the way his good buddy Mike Fransoso did with the Pirates.
“Eight or 10” MLB teams had contacted him, he said, including some who’d been interested when he was coming out of high school.
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