Help may be on the way for the Brew and Cubbies.
Austin Blaski and Tim Saunders, who recently helped the Marietta College baseball team (48-8) repeat as NCAA Division III national champions, have been selected by the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs, respectively, in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.
The 6-foot-4, right-handed-throwing Blaski was the the 665th overall selection in the 21st round, while the 6-foot, slick-fielding Saunders was the 974th pick in the 32nd round.
Article Photos
Times file photo
Marietta College ace Austin Blaski has been drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Blaski, 21-years-old, was the ace of the Pioneer staff, posting a 13-1 mound mark with a 1.23 ERA in his senior season. In 110 innings of work, he struck out a team-leading 115 and walked 32.
For his efforts, Blaski, was named to the 2012 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division III All-American first team, the National Pitcher of the Year by D3baseball.com, and to both the ABCA Mideast Region and Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Pitcher of the Year.
At MC, Blaski was a sports management major.
Fact Box
Baseball Draft Selections
--
Round 21
639. Houston, Marc Wik, CF, Chabot.
640. Minnesota, Bo Altobelli, C, Texas Tech.
641. Seattle, Scott DeCecco, LHP, South Carolina-Upstate.
642. Baltimore, Julien Service, CF, Sinclair SS, Whitby, Ontario.
643. Kansas City, Matthew Strahm, LHP, Neosho County CC.
644. Chicago Cubs, Stephen Perakslis, RHP, Maine.
645. San Diego, Matthew Chabot, RHP, Riverside CC.
646. Pittsburgh, Jordan Steranka, 3B, Penn St.
647. Miami, Hayden Fox, LHP, Oakland.
648. Colorado, Rayan Gonzalez, RHP, Bethune-Cookman.
649. Oakland, Tyler Hollstegge, RHP, UNC Greensboro.
650. N.Y. Mets, Gary Ward, LHP, Bethel U.
651. Chicago White Sox, Adam Lopez, RHP, VMI.
652. Cincinnati, Jordan Remer, LHP, San Francisco.
653. Cleveland, Joe Sever, 2B, Pepperdine.
654. Washington, Austin Chubb, C, Florida Southern.
655. Toronto, Colton Turner, LHP, Texas St.
656. L.A. Dodgers, Jacob Scavuzzo, CF, Villa Park HS, Orange, Calif.
657. L.A. Angels, Patrick Lowery, RHP, Columbia.
658. San Francisco, Benjamin Turner, C, Missouri.
659. Atlanta, Jeremy Fitzgerald, RHP, Tennessee Wesleyan.
660. St. Louis, Joseph Almaraz, 1B, Angelina College.
661. Boston, Jake Davies, 1B, Georgia Tech.
662. Tampa Bay, Jonathan Weaver, RHP, Central Michigan.
663. Arizona, Rudy Flores, 1B, Florida International.
664. Detroit, Alex Phillips, LHP, Kentucky.
665. Milwaukee, Austin Blaski, RHP, Marietta.
666. Texas, Jacob Lemoine, RHP, Bridge City HS, Orange, Tesas.
--
Round 31
939. Houston, M.P. Cokinos, C, St. Mary's (Texas).
940. Minnesota, Timothy Robinson, LF, Ocean View HS, Westminster, Calif.
941. Seattle, Rusty Shellhorn, LHP, Texas Tech.
942. Baltimore, Anthony Bazzani, RHP, Eastern Kentucky.
943. Kansas City, Hayden Edwards, RHP, Blue Valley HS, Overland Park, Kan.
944. Chicago Cubs, Bryan Bonnell, RHP, Centennial HS, Las Vegas.
945. San Diego, Matthew Shepherd, RHP, Tennessee Tech.
946. Pittsburgh, Jack Moffit, RHP, Flower Mound (Texas) HS.
947. Miami, Lucas Hunter, SS, Central Catholic HS, Portland, Ore.
948. Colorado, Shawn Stuart, RHP, Long Beach St.
949. Oakland, Ryan Gorton, C, Oregon St.
950. N.Y. Mets, Vance Vizcaino, SS, Wakefield HS, Wake Forest, N.C.
951. Chicago White Sox, William Thompson, 3B, East Carolina.
952. Cincinnati, Michael Salter, RHP, Cisco JC.
953. Cleveland, Daniel Holst, CF, Parkway South Senior HS, Ballwin, Mo.
954. Washington, Michael Boyden, RHP, Maryland.
955. Toronto, Derrick Chung, SS, Sacramento St.
956. L.A. Dodgers, David Graybill, RHP, Brophy Jesuit Prep School, Phoenix.
957. L.A. Angels, Jeff Kemp, SS, Radford.
958. San Francisco, Jason Forjet, RHP, Florida Gulf Coast.
959. Atlanta, Matt Kimbrel, RHP, Southern Polytechnic St.
960. St. Louis, Joseph Donofrio, RHP, California.
961. Boston, Austin Davis, RHP, Southern Mississippi.
962. Tampa Bay, Joseph Ward, C, Shadow Hills HS, Indio, Calif.
963. Arizona, Andrew Potter, RHP, Eastside HS, Lancaster, Calif.
964. Detroit, Connor Harrell, CF, Vanderbilt.
965. Milwaukee, Brent Suter, LHP, Harvard.
966. Texas, Zachary Brill, LHP, Mark Morris HS, Longview, Wash.
967. N.Y. Yankees, Kevin Johnson, RHP, Illinois.
968. Philadelphia, Chris Nichols, RHP, U. Sioux Falls.
Round 32
969. Houston, Tyler Manez, LHP, Plainedge HS, North Massapequa, N.Y.
970. Minnesota, Andrew Ferreira, LHP, Harvard.
971. Seattle, Richard Palase, 2B, Lynchburg.
972. Baltimore, William Russell, C, Midland.
973. Kansas City, Patrick Conroy, LHP, Marin CC.
974. Chicago Cubs, Tim Saunders, SS, Marietta.
975. San Diego, Alexi Colon, OF, Tusculum.
976. Pittsburgh, Max Rossiter, C, Arizona St.
The 22-year-old Saunders also had an impressive close-out collegiate career at shortstop, batting a team-high .441 with five home runs, seven triples, 48 RBIs, and a .952 fielding average.
He needed only one more triple to tie the Etta Express career record of 23.
For his efforts, Saunders was also a first-team All-American, and tabbed both the ABCA Mideast Region and OAC Player of the Year.
At MC, Saunders was a sports management major.
Marietta College, which owns six national baseball titles, has had numerous players compete at the professional level, including Terry Mulholland, Kent Tekulve, and Jim E. Tracy, who is currently the skipper of the Colorado Rockies.
Matt DeSalvo (2003) was the last Pioneer to play in the majors for the New York Yankees. He was last reportedly throwing for the Lamigo Monkeys in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.
After MC won the 2011 D3 crown, hard-throwing righty Mark Williams pitched for the Washington (Pa.) Wild Things in the Frontier Independent Baseball League. He later signed a free-agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers and is currently toiling in the minor leagues.
Mike DeMark, one of the aces of MC's 2006 national championship staff, is currently pitching in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
