From the River of Grass stage, to the biggest stage. Maxwell Romero Jr is one of the most prolific names that has come out of the Pines Charter baseball system. The four year veteran from Charter has officially been drafted by the Washington Nationals in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB Draft. 

  Currently with the Fredericksburg Nationals in the minors, Romero attributes a ton of his success to the Pines Charter family. He expressed, “It made me who I am today. I felt like Pines Charter baseball made me mature fairly quickly for a high school kid. At the age of 15, I knew what it meant to get to the field first and leave last. The teachers, believe it or not, were also very supportive and understanding of my athletic goals and aspirations. I wouldn’t change a thing about my high school experience.”

   Maxwell graduated from Charter in 2019 and chose to further his academics as well as his baseball journey at the prestigious Vanderbilt University. As a freshman, his season was inevitably cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in his sophomore year, Romero really showed out. He played in 21 games, starting 15 of them while batting .300 at the plate. The growth shown by Maxwell was more than just within the diamond. He expressed, “Vanderbilt definitely had an impact on the man I am today. The discipline and dedication that you must have to play at Vanderbilt is like nowhere else, I loved it though.”  After hitting a solo home run in the college world series, Romero took his talents back home to the University of Miami. 

  After returning home to Miami, Maxwell picked up right where he left off, producing great numbers in his comeback year. With 59 games played for the Hurricanes he batted .272 with 12 home runs. After finishing up the collegiate year, Romero looked to take the next step in his baseball career. He entered his name into the 2022 MLB Draft. 

  As you’d expect, the draft experience is a long and grueling process. For Romero, this was no different. He went through many phone calls and had to make some big decisions that would shape his future for himself, and for his biggest motivators, his family. “If you know how I am, you know family is everything, so for me, if my family was all in, I’d attack it like any other dream.” Even though Maxwell’s dream has happened, he isn’t satisfied yet. He has goals to continue to move up the professional ladder and ultimately be a major contributor to his squad. While he made his name at Pines Charter Stadium, it’s safe to say that Maxwell Romero wants to make his known at Nationals Park.