Dec. 9, 2004

Head Coach Terry Rupp and the Maryland baseball team announced the signing of eight to National Letters of Intent. In all, eight current high school seniors signed letters of intent for next season, including five from the state of Maryland and one from the District. The signees will make up Maryland's 2006 freshman class.

"We're very excited and feel like we've signed an outstanding class for next season," said Head Coach Terry Rupp. "All of these guys have solid academic backgrounds, on top of all their athletic abilities, and I'm thrilled about that. This group has speed, arm strength, power and overall athleticism. The future of the Maryland program looks very bright."

Dan Benick, a shortstop/RHP from Glen Lion, Pa., will come to Maryland after winning varsity letters in baseball, golf and basketball at Greater Nanticoke Area High School. He has been a first-team All-Wyoming Valley Conference selection in baseball the past two seasons, as well as his team's MVP. Last season, he hit .500 with nine home runs in leading his school to a district championship. In the fall, he earned first-team All Wyoming Valley Conference honors in golf, and last winter he was an all-conference selection in basketball.

John Dischert, a 6-5, 220-pound left-handed pitcher/first baseman, will come to Maryland from St. Mark's High School in Wilmington, DE. He was a third-team All-America selection and the Louisville Slugger Player of the Year in the state of Delaware last season and was named Wilmington New Journal Player of the Year. He went 10-0 with a 0.71 ERA and 93 K's in 68 innings of work last season and had two no-hitters and seven shut-outs. In St. Mark's 2004 state championship victory, Dischert threw a complete game to pick up the victory, giving up just two infield hits.

Bryan Hoffman is a 6-4, 250-pound left-handed pitcher from Broadneck High School in Arnold, MD. He has seen starting pitching duties in his last two seasons at Broadneck and was a Maryland East Region All Star and second team All Anne Arundel County in 2004. He posted a 6-5 record on the mound a year ago and was a .352 hitter with two home runs and 19 RBIs.

Mike Moss, a catcher/utility man, will come to Maryland from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, MD, where he was a 2004 team captain. Last season, he set new school records in most offensive categories, batting .623 with 33 hits, 25 runs and 25 RBI. He also set school records with a .779 on-base percentage, 1.084 slugging percentage (total bases/at-bats) and 10 doubles. He was a first-team All-County selection by the Montgomery County Journal, a first-team 4A West Coaches' selection and a second-team All-Met by the Washington Post.

Mike Murphy has been a four-year starter for Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, MD. An infielder/pitcher, he batted .425 last season and was named to the 2003 All-IAC and All-Gazette teams. He also pitched in the Junior Olympics in 2003 was an All-Tournament selection at the "Select Six" Tournament in Boston, MA. Last summer, he played on the Maryland Patriots and helped lead them to a third place finish at the National USSSA Tournament. He also competed in the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Cal. and the Blue-Grey Classic at Wake Forest University.

Outfielder Patrick "Wink" Nolan, from Calvert Hall College in Towson, MD, was a winner of the "Most Outstanding Prospect" award for Mid-Atlantic High School baseball last season. The 6-2, 188-pound Nolan has played for the Maryland Oriolanders fall showcase team, the Frozen Ropes Braves IBC World Series Team (Clearwater, FL), the Fowble Green Terror, Team Toyota and the Chesapeake Clippers, in addition to his high school experience. He has run career-best times of 6.56 in the 60-yard dash and 4.32 in the 40-yard dash and has been clocked on the radar at 89 mph.

Mike Rozak is from Saint John's College High School in Washington, DC, where he played baseball and was a wide receiver on the football team. Rozak is an infielder/outfielder and a two-time team captain, and he was included on the National Baseball Factory's list of the nation's top players this past year. He has pitched and played third base, while hitting lead-off for Saint John's. As a sophomore, he led his team in doubles and triples, received All-Conference honors and was named to the USSSA World Series All-Tournament Team in 2004. He also received the Best Prospect Award at the Mid-Atlantic North vs. South and was nominated for the Wendy's High School Heisman Award.

Dan Shillingburg is a 6-1, 185-pound catcher from Centennial High School in Ellicott City, MD. Last spring, he helped lead Centennial to the 3A state championship, the 3A regional championship and the second of back-to-back county championships. In that 2004 season, he hit .470 with a .549 OBP in the regular season and .625/.737 in postseason play. He was a unanimous All-County selection as a catcher and an honorable mention All-Metro catcher by the Washington Post.

"We signed the Player of the Year in the state of Maryland last season," Coach Rupp added, "and we feel like there's a good chance that any of these players could be players of the year in their states [Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania] this season."

The Terps will start regular season play in 2005 when they travel to Rockhill, S.C. to face Winthrop and Western Kentucky Feb. 12 and 13, respectively. The team will open its home season when it welcomes Towson on March 2 at 4 p.m., followed by its first conference series with Virginia Tech March 4-6.