Former Falcon Kyle Convissar was Early Target for Terps

It was just a few seconds after midnight in July 2009 when the telephone rang in the home of Kyle Convissar, who was a rising senior at Severna Park High.

On the other end of the line was Erik Bakich, who had been named the new head coach of the baseball team at the University of Maryland earlier that year. That July 1 was the first day a Division I coach could call a rising senior and Bakich, a top recruiter at Vanderbilt before coming to College Park, did not waste any time.

Bakich was determined to keep the top prep players in state, as in the past some of the best high school players in Maryland headed south to play for Atlantic Coast Conference teams at Clemson and Georgia Tech, for instance.

Convissar, now a freshman infielder for the Terps, told Patch that he was surprised when the call came from Bakich. Maryland also recruited classmate Alex Ramsay, now a freshman catcher for the Terps.

"I was pretty surprised that early in the morning. I was excited," said Convissar, whose family had not had any contact with the Maryland coach before the call. "He was very aggressive. He did a good job of recruiting me and Ramsay."

Convissar also looked into attending North Carolina and Virginia, who also play in the ACC. "I looked at Harvard and some of the Ivy League schools as well. Maryland was the best fit for me academically and sports-wise. I was able to get into the business school," he said.

The Severna Park grad said he is becoming a better player. "I came here because coach is a big developer (of talent) and I have developed as a much better fielder and hitter," said Convissar, a finance major. "The pitching is a lot better than anything I have seen. I have been improving a lot. It is a very tough conference and a lot of fun."

A right-handed hitter, Convissar hit .239 in his first 71 at bats with six runs batted in. He has seen action at second, short and third and also played some in the outfield in the past.

Ramsay hit .268 with three RBIs in his first 56 at bats this season. He had a hit at home in April that helped Maryland beat Florida State for the first time in 12 years.

Convissar plans to play for a team in Connecticut this summer in the New England Collegiate League.

His sister, Nicole, plays volleyball at Severna Park High. The Maryland freshman was an all-Met player in 2009 and 2010 and hit .522 with a slugging average of .711 as a senior for the Falcons.

He hit .481 as a junior, had 15 homers in his last two years of high school and was considered the top prep player in the state. He graduated with a grade-point average of 4.5. Convissar called winning the state title last year for the Falcons his biggest thrill in sports.

The son of Bruce and Pamela Convissar, he has volunteered for several orgnizations, including Habitat for Humanity. He said his father played baseball and football in college at Brown.

Maryland was 20-29 overall and 5-19 in the Atlantic Coast Conference going into a league series May 6-8 at North Carolina. The Terps end regular-season and ACC play May 19-21 with a home series against Wake Forest.