In sports like Major League Baseball, how many “homegrown” players you have are very important. It shows organizational strength and the ability to pay less for players in their prime, compared to free agency. How important is it in lacrosse?The last three MLL champions are Chesapeake, Boston and Chesapeake again. We will take a look at the home grown players those teams had and then the current teams today.
2012 Chesapeake Bayhawks
Drafted players: Ben Hunt, Kyle Dixon, Michael Kimmel, Danny Glading, Matt Abbott, Michael Simon, Dan Hostetler, TC DiBartolo, Jeff Reynolds, Michael Evans, Brent Adams, Barney Ehrmann
When the Bayhawks won the 2012 championship, Ben Rubeor was the MVP and led them in scoring. He was drafted by Long Island to start his career. Their next leading scorer was Ben Hunt and then John Grant Jr, whom they had traded for. Then Kyle Dixon before Steven Brooks.
2011 Boston Cannons
Drafted players: Matt Poskay, Max Quinzani, Paul Rabil, Brian Farrell, Mike Stone, Matt Smalley, Jordan Burke, Chris Eck, Jon Hayes
The backbone of this team was built in the draft. Sure, Mitch Belisle, Pat Heim and Brad Ross were big factors too, but Rabil and Poskay are the heart and soul of that 2011 team. Quinzani scored the game winner against Chesapeake and Burke won the championship MVP, while Eck was the best faceoff man in the playoffs.
2010 Chesapeake Bayhawks
Drafted players: Hunt, Dixon, Kimmel, Glading, Abbott, Simon, Reynolds, Evans, Brian Carroll, Shawn Nadelen, PT Ricci
It’s pretty much the same class that won it in 2012, but add a few more of the veteran players who stuck around with the Bayhawks for a while.
2013 Teams
Teams like Charlotte and Ohio who are expansion teams have a lot of veteran players they acquired via trade, or young players they picked up as well. Their draft picks all come in the past two seasons. Meanwhile, Hamilton has shown ability to draft very well as they are now 7-3 on the season with the most homegrown players in the league.
2013 Boston Cannons
Drafted Players: Rabil, Poskay, Burke, Farrell, Stone, Smalley, Eck, Hayes, Will Manny, Cameron Flint, Scott Ratliff, Lee Coppersmith, Brendan Buckley, Eric Hagerty
2013 Denver Outlaws
Drafted players: Drew Snider, Eric Law, Chris Bocklet, Brendan Mundorf, Dillon Roy, Jesse Schwartzman, Chris O’Doughtry, Charlie Ciparino, Brian Megill, Roger Ferguson, Landon Carr
2013 Hamilton Nationals
Drafted players: Kevin Crowley, Kevin Cunningham, Stephen Keogh, Cody Jamieson, Garrett Thul, Jeremy Thompson, Roman Lao-Gosney, MJ Kiekebelt, Mike Poppelton, Matt Lovejoy, Brett Queener, Reid Acton, Sid Smith, Jason Noble, Dillon Ward
2013 Chesapeake Bayhawks
Drafted players: Hunt, Dixon, Kimmel, Glading, Simon, Abbott, Evans, DiBartolo, Reynolds, Ehrman, Kevin Cooper, Jesse Bernhardt, Dom Sebastiani, Matt Mackrides, Tyler Fiorito
2013 Charlotte Hounds
Drafted players: Eric Lusby, Mike Sawyer, Mason Poli, Jake Tripuka, John Haus, Michael McCormack
2013 Rochester Rattlers
Drafted players: John Ranagan, Ned Crotty, Dave Lawson, Kyle Denhoff, Joel White, Thomas Wood, Will Koshansky, Tom Montelli, Michael Lazore, John Galloway, Kevin Randall, Jason LaShomb
2013 New York Lizards
Drafted players: Rob Pannell, Tommy Palasek, Matt Gibson, CJ Costabile, Mike Unterstein, Albert Maione, Vito DeMola, Michael Skudin, JoJo Marasco, Steve Murphy, Matt Bernier, Drew Adams, Brian Karalunas
2013 Ohio Machine
Drafted players: Steele Stanwick, Logan Schuss, Marcus Holman, Joe Cummings, Chase Cararro, Joe Resetarits, Jeff Ledwick, Eric O’Brien, Jake Bernhardt, Max Schmidt, Dominique Alexander, Marshall Burkhart
