For Aaron Graves, 2025 will be remembered as an emerging year for his Riverdale Baptist School’s baseball team.
In his seventh year coaching at the Upper Marlboro, Maryland-based school, Graves has rebuilt its baseball program — once a national power — into a contender. In mid-May, the Crusaders defeated Southern Maryland Christian Academy 5-0 to win the Old Line Conference Championship, the private school’s first varsity title since 2018.
However, to Graves, raising the conference title was only part of the journey.
“In my eyes, we’re averaging four to five championships a season, because that’s how many young men we’re sending to college every year,” Graves told WTOP.
In an era where money is gaining influence in youth sports, Graves uses his personal struggles battling cancer and injuries to encourage his players to put their academic success before their athletic goals.
This year, seven Riverdale Baptist seniors plan to go to college, while five juniors have already received college offers.
“The one thing that we will continue to do is put these young men in position academically first and athletically to move on to college to pursue their dreams,” he said.
‘Man of God first, cancer survivor, and I’m a coach’
At 13 years old, Graves, a Maryland native, was diagnosed with brain cancer and given only a month to live. He had surgery to remove the cancer in 1990, where an issue during the procedure caused his heart to stop.
“I actually flatlined during that surgery,” he said. “So I’ve seen heaven’s gates. I’ve seen the clouds.”
Doctors were able to revive Graves, leaving him with a visible scar on his head. Gates had to relearn how to walk and talk, as well as all his motor skills.
However, he was motivated by his desire to return to the baseball field. He played for Gwynn Park High School in Brandywine, where he used his skills to battle for a possible athletic scholarship.
In his senior year, another injury would derail those dreams.
“I had seven scholarship offers, and I also had seven pro teams that wanted me coming out of small Gwynn Park in Prince George’s County,” he said. “I ended up tearing my left quadricep and straining my right quadricep, simply by not stretching right before a legion game.”
After playing college baseball, Graves entered coaching, and said he wanted to make sure that the next set of stars coming up would be more prepared for life after their playing careers were over.
“(I’m) a man of God first, cancer survivor, and I’m a coach,” Gates said.
“We love baseball, we love athletics, but at any point in time, you can sustain an injury, and that’s it,” he added. “What do you have to fall back on?”
Living as a Crusader
In 2019, Riverdale Baptist hired Graves as its first African American head baseball coach in school history. He was previously the junior varsity coach at neighboring Bishop McNamara.
He was taking over a program that went 31-1 in 2018, ranked No. 1 nationally and went 97-5 over a three-season stretch.
Once the previous coaching staff left, so did many of its players, leaving Graves with only enough to field a junior varsity.
It was at that point Graves started the rebuild with an education-first philosophy: Students had to be enrolled in Riverdale Baptist and reach a 3.0 GPA on report cards. Players were giving practice suspensions if grades were low and no “D” grades were allowed. In his first year, Riverdale Baptist won a JV title.
“Having that in place really put an emphasis on the importance of academics and getting our young men to understand that if you don’t have the grades, you’re not going to be successful here, you won’t be successful in life,” Graves said.
Early in the 2025 season, in an away game against Archbishop Curley of Baltimore, the Crusaders pitched a no-hitter in a 4-0 win. That result was the turning point for Riverdale Baptist’s fortunes to become title contenders, Graves said. At one point, the Crusaders were ranked No. 9 among Maryland private schools.
Shortstop Dixon Monk, a Georgetown commit with a 4.75 GPA, said this year’s team is the “closest group of guys” he’s played with.
Players took on the challenge of following Graves’ grade requirements, Monk said, adding that the school’s community helped the team reach their academic goals with additional tutoring and support.
On May 12, all the hard work paid off. After right-handed pitcher Riley Blount threw the final out to win the Old Line Conference title, Monk said it “meant the world” to final win a championship wearing a Riverdale Baptist jersey.
“We’ve always gotten close, but could never finish the job,” Monk said. “So this last time around, at least my last time around, with the guys actually winning. It meant a lot to all of us.”
For Graves, the title was the continuation of his own legacy at Riverdale Baptist. While calling the school’s past baseball successes “awesome,” Graves said his path for the Crusaders can position students to succeed on and off the field.
“If you fit what we do, and you’re academically strong, I am interested in you coming to Riverdale,” he said.
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