Before he was a top Orioles prospect, Coby Mayo survived Parkland shooting

If asked, Coby Mayo is willing to talk about the day that changed his life and the lives of those in his hometown forever.

But he’s not likely to bring it up, and his willingness has its limits.

A 21-year-old Norfolk Tides corner infielder, Mayo was present for one of the worst tragedies in recent U.S. history.

On Feb. 14, 2018, Mayo was a sophomore at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, when a 19-year-old former student entered and fired 140 rounds with an AR-15-style rifle, killing 17 students and staff and wounding 17 more in a six-minute massacre.

Mayo, who joined the Tides from Double-A Bowie on July 14, expects the tragedy to stay with him for the rest of his life.

“It’s something that we went through as a community, and I think the community always is a close-knit group,” he said. “We all are together. We try to support each other.

“It’s something that’s happened, and you try to move on a little bit. But there’s always going to be a piece of you that’s still with that.”

Mayo, the seventh-ranked prospect in the Baltimore Orioles organization according to MLB.com, doesn’t dwell on that day – at least externally. In fact, some of his teammates aren’t even aware that he was there.

Norfolk catcher Maverick Handley, a former Stanford star who has now played with Mayo at two levels, had no idea. Asked whether he had knowledge of what Mayo had experienced in high school, Handley, understandably, took the question a completely different way.

“I actually don’t really know what he experienced in high school,” Handley said. “Credit to him. Keep the yearbook closed. I’m sure he had tons of accolades.”

Told of the shooting, Handley said, simply, “I did not know that. Well, dang.”

Playing for those who didn’t survive the shooting, Mayo has made a name for himself within the organization in just three pro seasons since the Orioles drafted him in the fourth round out of high school in the COVID-abbreviated 2020 draft.

He’s rocketed through five levels of the organization, reaching Triple-A after batting .307 with 17 home runs, 44 RBIs and a 1.026 OPS in 78 games at Bowie this season. He has 47 homers in 250 professional games, and he leads the minors with 34 doubles this season.

Tides manager Buck Britton had only seen Mayo in a practice setting before his arrival. He was duly impressed.

“It’s big-time power,” Britton said. “He’s got a big-time arm over there at third base.”

Mayo, who had committed to play at the University of Florida, was drafted after a high school season that was canceled after eight games because of COVID. He was paid a reported over-slot $1.75 million signing bonus to forgo the Gators and begin his pro career.

There were no minor league games in 2020 either, meaning Mayo’s career started later than it likely would have. Still, he made it a goal to reach the Double-A level before the 2023 draft came around. Instead, he was told he was joining the Tides as this year’s draft was going on.

“So I’m a whole level ahead of where I wanted to be,” Mayo said. “I knew, just with time and hard work, that this could be possible.”

He also looks to Baltimore’s young stars as examples of what else is possible. Mayo played with Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser at three levels over the past two seasons. Infielder Jordan Westburg was part of the same draft class as Mayo.

Infielder Gunnar Henderson, Mayo is quick to point out, was 21 when he made his major league debut last season.

Handley said Mayo is cut from a similar cloth.

“He’s got that same kind of vibe that we’re looking for in the clubhouse: positive, looking to always get better,” Handley said. “He’s not lazy. He’s working his ass off. I think he’s picked up some really good habits from some of those older guys that you kind of develop when you’re in college as you’re playing. He’s really learned fast. He fits right in with us.”

Norfolk’s staff is aware of the unimaginable weight Mayo quietly carries, which only he can fully understand. If he ever discusses the mass shooting with his manager, it will likely be because Mayo brought it up.

“He doesn’t really talk about it,” Britton said. “We know what, kind of, he’s been through.

“That’s kind of a dark place that I really don’t want to go with him. If he feels like that’s something that he wants to open up about, we’re more than willing to be there and listen. But yeah, that’s a tough situation that’s surrounding him.”

Mayo, incidentally, has a tenuous Norfolk connection. A high school teammate, Hunter Fitz-Gerald, just completed his career as a first baseman at Old Dominion.

Both players, who played for Fitz-Gerald’s legendary father, Todd, at Stoneman Douglas, were at school when the shooting happened.

Hunter Fitz-Gerald recently signed a free-agent deal with the Seattle Mariners.

“That was awesome to see,” Mayo said. “He definitely deserves it. It’s good seeing hometown kids going out and playing in pro ball and getting an opportunity to reach the biggest goal.”

The two are hardly alone among Americans who have witnessed gun violence firsthand. The U.S. surpassed 400 mass shootings in 2023 last week, according to the Gun Violence Archive. It’s the earliest the country has reached its 400th in at least 10 years.

One recent turn of events did prompt Mayo to bring up the tragic day publicly. On June 29, when Parkland officer Scot Peterson was found not guilty on all counts after failing to confront the murderer as he fired shots, Mayo retweeted a news story with a stern comment.

“Absolutely disgusting,” he wrote. “This man stood outside the building, hiding, while my classmates are being shot at. Never thought of going to save any students, and 0 discipline. Disgusted(.)”

Otherwise, Mayo keeps to himself when it comes to the deadliest high school shooting in American history.

Stoneman Douglas is set for demolition, but not before a bipartisan Congressional delegation is scheduled to tour the unbothered site of the carnage on Thursday.

Asked on a recent afternoon where he was that day in relation to the violence, Mayo showed where his line is when it comes to discussing it.

“I would rather not talk about the actual day,” he said. “It happened, but it’s a tough situation to talk about before a game.

“You want to stay representing the individuals, but you don’t want to always hold on to it and talk about it every day. You kind of just want to let that be in the past.”

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com. Twitter @DavidHallVP.