COLLEGE PARK, MD -- New Maryland head baseball coach Matt Swope added to his coaching staff with the addition of DMV native and longtime area coach John Poss (pronounced PAHS) as Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator on Monday.

A native of Maryland, who attended DeMatha Catholic High School, Poss returns to the area after serving as head coach at Division III Wilson College for the past six seasons as he was the only head coach in the program's history as the team started in the 2019 season. At Wilson, located in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Poss led the Phoenix to a 114-43 overall record for a .726 win percentage with a 41-14 conference record (.745) in the Colonial State Athletic Conference. 

"Being able to come back to my home state and work with someone I have known since our DeMatha days is a dream come true," said Poss. "Matt is an outstanding coach and someone I have learned a lot from over the years. I am excited to be able to return to the DMV and recruit an area loaded with talent." 

"John is a relentless recruiter and a coach who gets the most out of his players," said Swope. "If you look at what he did building a Wilson baseball program from scratch and leading all of Division III in so many hitting categories this past season, that shows the type of players he can develop. I'm excited to welcome him back to an area he knows well and continue to build an outstanding staff with the Maryland baseball program."

Under Poss, Wilson led all of NCAA Division III in runs scored (10.8 per game), batting average (.390) and  slugging percentage (.594) in 2023. The .390 batting average was the highest for any team in all of college baseball in 2023, spanning Divisions I, II and III while the 10.8 runs per game was second in all of college baseball. The Phoenix had five starting players hit better than .400 on the season and seven starters with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) percentage of better than 1.000. 

The Phoenix went 34-10 in 2023 with a 14-4 conference record. Over the last three years, Poss' teams had a combined record of 86-27 for a .761 win percentage. Since 2021, his teams have all hit better than .352, scored more than 8.5 runs per game and had slugging percentages of more than .526. 

Prior to Wilson, Poss was the head coach at St. Mary's Catholic High School in Annapolis Maryland, posting a 123-28 record in six seasons while coaching 22 student-athletes who would go on to play at the collegiate level.  He led the Saints to back-to-back Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championships in 2014 and 2015 before a successful transition to the A Conference before the 2016 season. 

Prior to taking over the program at St. Mary's Catholic, Poss served as an assistant coach at his alma mater DeMatha Catholic, where he helped lead the powerhouse program to two Maryland State Private School championships.

Poss played his collegiate baseball at UMBC and Winthrop University and went on to play professional baseball in the Frontier and Atlantic Leagues from 1998-2002 as well as a stint in the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2000. He graduated from UMBC in 1994

He is married to Candice Poss sharing three children Alexa, Kendall and Olivia.