Maryland Black Ice Management
KEITH CALTA - FOUNDER, MARYLAND BLACK ICE SOFTBALL
The Maryland Black Ice Softball program was established in 2008 with 9 dedicated young ladies. These players paved the way for hundreds of young athletes to improve their skills, create a team environment and make it to the next level. The philosophy of the Maryland Black Ice program is to have a small organization to maximize its resources and increase time developing each player on and off the field.
Black Ice founder Keith Calta had a vision to create an environment in which players could develop and reach the next level if they had the desire to do so. He believed learning from experienced, in-house coaching and developing relationships with college coaches, current and past college players. These players and coaches visit our fields on a regular basis sharing their knowledge of the game with camps and one-on-one lessons.
Coach Keith believed so much in learning from experienced college coaches and players he formed the MBI Camps LLC - Maryland Black Ice camps. MBI Camps host some of the finest colleges in the country and players from the East Coast visit each year.
Keith hails from Williamsport Pa, home of the Little League world series. He attended the University of Maryland on a Football scholarship and played on the 1976 undefeated team which went on to play in the Cotton Bowl. He earned a degree in engineering and retired from TE Connectivity after 33 years.
His daughter Sarah Calta was on the first Maryland Black Ice team. Sarah went onto Maryland to earn a softball scholarship. She made the 2016 All Big Ten softball team and was honored with 4 consecutive all-conference academic teams. Sarah currently owns 100 Percent Chiropractic in Rockaway New Jersey.
Kathy McLaughlin - MBI Camps Director
Kathy McLaughlin is the MBI Camps director. Kathy is from Arbutus, MD and graduated from The University of Maryland. As a member of the softball team at Maryland, Kathy played in 3 NCAA Tournaments and was the ACC Batting Champion and an All-ACC First Team member. Upon graduation, she began her coaching career as an assistant Providence College for 6 seasons.
Jeff Zoller - Travel Program Coordinator
In this role, Jeff coordinates the administrative activities of the Maryland Black Ice Softball program and serves as the primary point of contact within the Cockeysville Recreation Council for travel softball.
Jeff is responsible for overseeing the web and social media strategy for Maryland Black Ice. In this role, Jeff promotes the MBI brand and events on the website & social media channels, creates and maintains core content, including photos & videos, and interacts with university & organizational partners, athletes, families, media and other key stakeholders though our social media platforms.
Jeff has 15+ years of experience working with youth organizations, previously coaching softball, soccer, lacrosse and basketball. Jeff previously served as chair of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras Advisory Council, Treasurer of the Fort Garrison Elementary School PTA and of a local chapter of the Girl Scouts. His daughter Meghan is a middle school student at McDonogh.
Nick Jensen - Head of Player Development
Nick, our 14U Head Coach, is responsible for the creation and execution of our player development programs across all teams, ensuring a consistent approach in line with core Maryland Black Ice Softball values and objectives. This includes setting up player clinics, engagement with college coaches, players and former players and other outside developmental events.
Nick's bio is included below in the Coaches section.
Allison Short - Pitcher Development
A member of the original Black Ice team, Allison Short completed an outstanding career at Frostburg State. In 2015, Allison was named conference Rookie of the Year. In 2017, she was selected as a First Team All-CAC and an ECAC South All Star pitcher as she led the league with a 1.91 ERA and was third in strikeouts. Allison is the Bobcats' career leader in wins, games started, appearances and innings pitched and is second all time in complete games and shutouts. Allison will be leading the Black Ice pitcher development program, working with our younger age groups to develop their pitching skills.
Sammie Stefan - Player Development
Sammie Stefan was a four-year collegiate athlete at the University of Maryland. She is joining Maryland Black Ice to help younger players grow and develop their softball skills. At Maryland, she played 1st base,
3rd base, and was the designated player for her team. Her sophomore year (2019), she received 2nd Team All-Big Ten Honors and led the team in doubles (11), homeruns (7), total bases (75), and slugging
percentage (.521). She also hit two grand slams in her career at Maryland and received several Big Ten Distinguished Scholar awards. Sammie has a niche for working with kids as she is majoring in special education at UMD and will graduate in May of 2022. Sammie is looking forward to building strong relationships with the players and wants to help the players both on and off the field.