Will Third Time be the Charm for CCBL Veteran Maxwell?

All-Star Centerfielder Returns to Play At Lowell Park

April 8, 2005

OLNEY, MD — When University of Maryland star centerfielder Justin Maxwell drove to Wareham from his hometown in Olney, MD in the spring of 2003 and stood in the batter's box at Clem Spillane Field in Wareham, little did he know that he would be embarking on a three-year summer career in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

    Well-apprised of the benefits of making it on the Cape, Maxwell jumped at the chance to join the Bourne Braves when then General Manager Sean Walsh asked if he would accept a temporary contract. With Bourne's roster full at the time, field manager Harvey Shapiro opted to give Maxwell a shot. The rest was all up to the 6'5", 225-lb. slugger.

    "Maxwell made it impossible for us to look at anyone else in the centerfield slot. He was that good. We had hoped he would be, but we were also hamstrung with a full-roster left us after the 2002 season. I felt strongly that Maxwell would become the backbone of our team. He did," said Walsh.

    Maxwell hit .307 and was named the starting leftfielder for the 2003 Wester Division All-Star Team in the 2003 CCBL All-Star Game at Falmouth and was also named to the all-league team after the season. His phenomenal consistency and dedication earned him a quick reputation on the Cape and it also helped Bourne to its first-ever Western Division championship title and a bid versus Orleans in the CCBL Championship Series.

    Deemed by many Major League scouts as one of the premier positional players eligible for the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Maxwell was pegged to go high in the first or second rounds. As luck would have it, though, the slugger was nailed with an inside pitch at Maryland's first practice of 2004 and he suffered a broken wrist. The slugger had to redshirt and sit out the entire collegiate season.

    Regardless, the Texas Rangers liked what they saw in the speedy and well-built outfielder, and drafted him in the 10th round. Seeing an opportunity to make up for lost playing time, however, Maxwell opted to return to the Cape League and joined coach Mike Roberts with the Cotuit Kettleers for 2004. Ranked in the top 20 batters from Opening Day through July 4, Maxwell had helped pace the Kettleers to the top of the Western Division standings, once again proving his influence amongst teammates. Sadly, on July 5, while playing versus Brewster at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, Maxwell was again hit with an inside fastball, this time slightly fracturing a small bone in one of this fingers. Unfortunately, the injury was on his throwing hand. He was forced to call it a season and opted to return to Maryland to finish his undergraduate work, declining yet another offer by Texas.

    This spring, Maxwell came out firing on all cylinders, belting three home runs and hitting .455 in Maryland's first seven games. The Cape League was the furthest thing from Maxwell's mind as he set his sights on re-entering the June draft or perhaps entertaining another offer by Texas.

    They say bad luck comes in threes, however, and for a third time Maxwell suffered a slight fracture in his hand after taking a vicious hack swing in practice.

    But they also say, the third time is the charm, as Maxwell decided last week to accept an offer from Cotuit to return once more to the Cape League and to take advantage of a rare, third-year appearance.

    Obviously, all eyes will be on the June draft for those interested in the player Baseball America called this spring the 25th best in college baseball. With any luck, those same eyes will see Maxwell lead Cotuit to the CCBL playoffs and then wish him well in his professional career.