Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame to induct CR grad Snell, St. Mark's coach Smith

St. Mark’s High coach Matt Smith and former major league pitcher Ian Snell, a Caesar Rodney High graduate, are among this year’s inductees to the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame.

They are joined by Heath Chasanov, who was a standout player at Woodbridge High and the University of Delaware; longtime Delaware Semi-Pro League standout Jack McDonough, a Mount Pleasant High and Towson University graduate; Mike Donovan, who starred at St. Mark’s, Wilmington University and in the Delaware Semi-Pro League; and the late Bob McConnell, a founding member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

They will be inducted on June 25 at Frawley Stadium before the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ Carolina League game against the Lynchburg Hillcats.

The Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame was founded and is operated by the Delaware High School Baseball Coaches Association. The 2018 class marks the 25th since the hall’s 1994 inception and boosts the number of inductees to 127, with names adorning a large plaque on the first-base side of the press box at Frawley Stadium.

Smith is now in his 21st season as the baseball coach at St. Mark’s, where he is also athletic director. In his 20 previous seasons, St. Mark’s has won 10 state titles and finished second twice. His 366 career wins rank sixth in Delaware high school baseball history.

Snell was a 26th-round draft choice by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of CR in 2000. He made his big-league debut four years later. Snell would go on to pitch in 152 games with 136 starts in six seasons with the Pirates, highlighted by his 14-win season in 2006, and two in Seattle. He pitched as recently as 2016-17 in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

Chasanov, Delaware’s 1991 Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year, is now superintendent of the Woodbridge School District. His father Len, who was his coach at Woodbridge, is a 2014 inductee.

In 21 semi-pro seasons, from 1976-1995 and 1999, McDonough batted .291 in 1,393 games. He was the league’s 1986 all-star second baseman playing for Brandywine.

An All-State outfielder at St. Mark’s, Donovan now coaches at St. Mary Magdalen and Naamans Little League.

McConnell won SABR’s highest honor, the inaugural Bob Davids Award, in 1985 for outstanding contributions to SABR and baseball. He died in 2012 at age 87.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.