While new UCF baseball head coach and former LSU assistant Terry Rooney gets acclimated with the territory here in East Orlando, Class of 2008 recruits have been weighing their options after being selected in this year’s Major League Baseball Draft.
In all, seven members of the Knights’ seventh-ranked recruiting class were taken by major-league clubs, while seniors Mitch Herold and Robert Lara, junior Mitch Houck, and graduate Dwayne Bailey also were called upon and eventually signed professional contracts.
Bailey was selected in the 21st round with the 649th pick by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before joining the Rookie League Orem Owlz, where he went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts at shortstop in his first outing. He followed that up by going 3-for-5 with two RBI, four runs scored, and a stolen base while playing at second, where he turned in two double plays.
As a senior at UCF he led the team with 77 hits, 47 runs and 21 stolen bases and tallied a .356 batting average. Of the underclassmen, LSU transfer catcher Robert Lara signed on with the San Diego Padres after being taken in the 19th round (585th overall). Lara was on the Johnny Bench Award Watch List during his lone season at UCF, where he hit .312 and was the first Knight since 2005 to hit two grand slams in a season.
Herold joined the Boston Red Sox organization after being taken in the 16th round with the 502nd overall pick. The left-handed pitcher finished out his third season with a 3.04 ERA and a 4-4 record in 13 starts. He set career-highs with 70 strikeouts and 74.0 innings pitched while allowing batters to hit .239 against him.
Houck signed on with the New York Mets after being selected with the 524th pick in the 17th round, just one year after suffering a season-ending injury. The lefthanded pitcher mustered a 4-3 record and a 7.07 ERAwhile striking out a career-high 71 batters in 56 innings. He was also part of UCF’s second no-hitter on March 17, when he pitched seven innings against Wagner.
Among the recruiting class expected to sign professional contracts is Lake Mary pitcher/infielder Matt Richardson, younger brother of former UCF player Ryan, and Graham Hicks of Lakeland. Richardson was drafted in the 15th round (470th overall) by the New York Yankees after being ranked as the 18th best player in the state by Prospectwire. Hicks was taken with the 121st pick in the fourth round by the Washington Nationals and is a “virtual lock” to sign in the coming weeks. The remaining five recruits have until Aug. 15 to decide their baseball futures.
They include Wesley Freeman of Lakeland (16th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates), Jamie Mallard of Tampa (17th round by the Los Angeles Angels), Jacob Rogers of Clearwater (29th round by Boston), D.J. Hicks of Altamonte Springs (49th round by the San Francisco Giants) and B.J. Zimmerman of Kissimmee (49th round by Washington).
The baseball program at UCF has had 46 Knights selected in the first 20 rounds since 1982, when Sam Natille was taken in the sixth round by Boston, with 66 players, not counting incoming recruits, drafted since 1979. Jeff Rudolph was UCF’s first draftee when he was taken in the 25th round by the Yankees.
UCF Summer All-Stars
The Scoop: Two UCF Knights earned spots in the Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League (CGL) All-Star Game over the weekend thanks to their contributions to the Beltway Blue Caps in Fairfax City, Va.
Juniors Shane Brown of Winter Park High School and Chris Duffy of Cypress Creek suited up in the CGL’s 4-3 win over the Maryland Collegiate Baseball League All-Stars in Vienna, Va.
Entering the all-star break, Brown, a corner infielder for the Knights this past season and the team’s leading hitter with a .367 average, ranked fourth in the CGL in hitting (.389), was tied for second in the league with 28 hits, fourth with 19 RBI, and tied for third with five home runs to his credit.
This summer he has registered starts at designated hitter and as a position player in the infield, striking out just seven times compared to seven walks. Duffy, UCF’s primary designated hitter in 2008, also had five homers, was 20th in the league in hitting with a .306 average and led his team with 21 runs and 22 RBI so far this summer, good for third in the league.
Along with his duties at DH, Duffy has seen playing time at both left field and third base. The Clark C. Griffith Collegiate Baseball League is a premier wood-bat league for NCAAplayers who have at least one year of college eligibility remaining. The Beltway Blue Caps entered the week in sixth place, out of seven teams, with a 10-14 overall mark.
Howard Nominated for ESPY
The Scoop: There’s only a couple more days left for Orlando Magic fans to vote for Dwight Howard in the “Best NBA Player” category of the 2008 ESPYAwards. Howard is matched up against nominees Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers), Kevin Garnett (Boston), LeBron James (Cleveland) and Chris Paul (New Orleans) for the honor.
Fans will help determine the outcome of the “Best NBA Player” award, among others, when the 16th annual show is broadcast on July 20 at 9 p.m. Voting can be done online by visiting www.orlandomagic.com or www.ESPYS.tv.
The ESPYs gather top celebrities from sports and entertainment to commemorate the past year in sports by recognizing major sports achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances.
Howard was recently one of 12 players selected to the 2008 USA Basketball Senior National Team, which will represent the United States in the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China.
Sharks Hit the Beach
The Scoop: They play on land, artificial turf and now on a beach across the seas. This month Orlando Sharks forward Jorge Valle and goalkeeper Antonio Iriarte will join the Mexican Beach Soccer Cup Team during the FIFABeach Soccer World Cup in Marseille, France, from July 17-27.
Beach soccer, which originated at Leme Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was recognized by FIFAin 2005 after successful tournaments have been held since 1992.
The pace of play is said to be similar to that of Major Indoor Soccer League with high-scoring games, a golden goal overtime, and free kicks on goal for all fouls.
The event this summer marks the first time the tournament will be played outside of Rio de Janeiro.
