Newark's Ben Cowles is back home after his baseball season at the University of Maryland ended early because of the coronavirus. The Terrapins were 10-5 when play was stopped.

"Our team really clicked as a group. Give credit to the seniors, they really helped us get better and it's a shame for them, cause some of them it'll be their last season playing baseball. I think it was just because we're so close, took our freshmen under our wing, we meshed as a group," Cowles says.

Cowles enjoyed a solid start to his college baseball career. After starting 50 games, playing mostly second base his freshman year, Cowles moved to the left side of the infield and started all 15 games at shortstop. His offensive numbers also improved his sophomore season.  

"It took me a couple of months to get used to and I worked a lot with our hitting coach, just fine tuning our approach and just working some adjustments on our swing and it helped a lot," Cowles explains.

Cowles is already eyeing the possibility of a pro career. He'll get an extra season to improve his tools and boost his draft stock for major league teams after the NCAA granted spring athletes another year of eligibility.

"A lot of them look for arm strength, if you're a good person, good character, mental toughness and how well you can swing the bat. We do training all the time, watch videos, it's the little stuff that scouts look for," he says.

And Cowles hopes that all the little things pay off when he returns to Maryland later this summer.