For Liam Diehl (’23), the baseball diamond has always been a second home.

“Ever since day one he’s been [playing] baseball in the backyard and I’d pitch to him, and he’d pitch to me,” Brenden Kittner (’24), Diehl’s neighbor, said. “I couldn’t touch any of his pitches, and you could just tell from an early age that he was going to be something when he grew up.”

The 6’3” right-handed pitcher, who committed to Division I High Point University this past winter, enters his second year of varsity action as the Bulls’ ace. Diehl’s fast ball has been clocked at 89 miles per hour and that’s not even his top pitch.

“He’s in there throwing an 85 mile per hour fastball and all of a sudden you get hit with a slider,” Luke Orner (’22) said. “It [the slider] gets everyone; you can see it on his Tiktok. People have swords in their hands trying to hit his sliders.”

Despite his natural gifts, Diehl possesses a tenacious work ethic. During the season, he trains around ten hours a week, which includes strength, mechanical, and technical work.

“It’s just showing up to practice every day trying to get better,” Diehl said. “[It’s all about] hard work and dedication to the sport I love.”

While Diehl is a serious performer come game time, his light-hearted demeanor energizes the entire dugout.

“Liam’s a laid-back funny guy who gets his stuff done but has fun doing it,” Orner said. “He’s always wearing something funny and loves to griddy everywhere.”

Diehl provides a platform to build upon for Coach Bradley Duvall’s return to the Baltimore County baseball fields. The Bulls are out to a 5-1 start, with Diehl holding a 2-0 record on the young season.

“You know he’s going to get the job done, and that’s something that every team needs,” Will Marchineck (’22) said.

With such an efficient and lethal pitching game, a 2A state championship is in the Bulls’ sight. Diehl leads a young and talented bullpen who will all return for the 2023 season. The future High Point Panther looks to deal out a significant amount of heat in his final two seasons on the mound.