Ten taken in MLB Draft

Lut Williams
BCSP Editor

Ten black college baseball players, led by MEAC champion Bethune-Cookman star pitcher Hiram Burgos, went off the boards in the recent Major League Baseball Draft of first-year players.

It took until the sixth round for Burgos, a redshirt-junior, to be selected with the 24th pick of the round, going to Milwaukee with the 196th overall pick.

Burgos, who was part of B-CU's four straight MEAC championships and four consecutive NCAA regional bids (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009), was 6-3 this past season striking out 94 batters in 79.1 innings with a 3.74 ERA. Burgos totaled 21 career wins and over 250 lifetime strikeouts with the 'Cats.

He also started and pitched thru seven innings of the Wildcats' first game in the NCAA playoffs this season, a tough last inning loss to the Regional's top seed, Florida. Burgos left with the 'Cats leading 5-3.

The right-hander got the news while with his family at their home in Cayey, Puerto Rico. He told the Daytona Beach News-Journal he was ecstatic but a little surprised.

"I'm definitely surprised," Burgos said in a story by staff writer Michael Lewis. "As soon as we saw my name (on the computer) everybody was screaming and jumping up and down and making all kinds of noise. I had a feeling it would be Milwaukee, but not that fast. It's incredible."

Burgos draft position is the highest a member of B-CU head coach Mervyn Melendez's team has been drafted since Mark Woodyard in 2000.

Two more black college standouts would go thru the first ten rounds of a draft that covered 50 rounds and involved teams drafting over 1,500 players (1,521 to be exact).

Prairie View A&M center fielder Myrio Richard, also a redshirt junior, was next off the boards going to Oakland with the 12th pick of the 9th round, 273rd overall.

The 6-foot, 185-pounder, a native of Lake Charles, La., earned 2009 All-SWAC Second Team honors in addition to being named as the SWAC's Preseason Player of the Year.

He finished the 2009 campaign with a .315 batting average, 33 RBIs, nine doubles and six home runs.

Unlike most draft picks at the beginning of their professional career, Richard will have a leg up on most of his peers as he's the second member of his family to play professional baseball. Richard's brother, Michael, was also selected by the A's in the 11th round of the 2007 draft and is currently playing with the Stockton Ports on the Class A level.

Edward Waters third baseman Joseph Thomas, another junior, was next snapped up by the Chicago Cubs with the 29th pick of the 10th round, 320th overall. He was the first of three black college Thomases to be selected.

Thomas hit .336 on the season with 51 hits and 30 RBI. The first/third baseman hit eight long balls during the season while aiding his team to a  21-24 overall record.

Of the ten black college selectees, Bethune-Cookman of the MEAC and Prairie View of the SWAC led the way with two each. Five of the picks hail from SWAC schools with four coming from the MEAC.

Below are brief profiles of the other selectees:

MICHAEL THOMAS
6-4, 220, Jr., Catcher, SOUTHERN
12th Round - 27th pick, 378th Overall
BOSTON
Thomas led the Jags in hitting in 2009, with a .365 batting average. Thomas missed a portion of the 2009 season with a broken hand, suffered in his first at-bat versus New Orleans on March 24th. In his SU career, Thomas hit 15 home runs and had 71 RBI's. The electrical engineering major played in the prestigious Cape Cod summer League in 2008.
He is the 29th Southern player to be drafted since the 2000 season.

JEFFREY SQUIER
6-3, 180, Jr., Shortstop, MISS. VALLEY ST.
14th Round - 10th pick, 421st Overall
COLORADO
A team leader who started all 50 games for the Delta Devils this season, Squier concluded his season with a .347 batting average, a .593 slugging percentage (8th in SWAC) and a .429 on-base mark. Squier scored 39 runs, collected 58 hits including five triples (2nd in SWAC) and eight home runs (t-4th in SWAC), drove in 26 runs and had a league-leading 41 stolen bases.

ERIC THOMAS
5-11, 180, Jr., RHP, MISS. B-COOKMAN
19th Round - 2nd pick, 563rd Overall
OAKLAND
Thomas appeared in 18 games for the Wildcats, 13 as a starter and led the team with three complete games. He posted a 7-6 mark with a 4.98 ERA and 83 strikeouts.

CHRISTIAN BEATTY
5-10, 190, Jr., Center Fielder, NC A&T
26th Round - 18th pick, 789th Overall
ST. LOUIS
Beatty earned first-team All-MEAC honors three consecutive seasons. In 2007, he was named MEAC Rookie of the Year after hitting .313 with 38 RBIs and a league-leading 10 home runs. A season later, he led the MEAC in home runs again as he finished the season with 13.
In April at N.C. A&T's annual All-Sports Banquet, Beatty was named N.C. A&T Male Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. He finishes his career as a .339 hitter with 31 home runs and 135 RBIs. Beatty also recorded 47 doubles and scored 145 runs and walked 89 times during his three-year career.

DANIEL PERKINS
6-4, 200, Jr., RHP, DELAWARE STATE
27th Round - 10th pick, 811th Overall
COLORADO
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Pitcher of the Year finished the 2009 season with a 5-5 record and a 2.65 ERA in 85 innings of action. The Newark, Del., native struck out 86 batters and held the opposition to a .201 batting average.
Perkins started in 12 contests, including five complete games and two complete-game shutouts, helping DSU to a second-place finish in this year's MEAC Standings. The five-time MEAC Pitcher of the Week posted a 4-2 record against conference opponents and tallied a 1.17 ERA.
Perkins becomes the first DSU player drafted since 2004 and the sixth since 1991.

BRANDON WHITBY
6-2, 205, Sr., Catcher, PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
34th Round - 10th pick, 1021st Overall
COLORADO
A senior from Phoenix, Ariz., Whitby was a four-year starter at catcher and capped off his career with a spot on the 2009 All-SWAC First Team after batting .375 with 57 hits, 38 RBIs and 12 doubles. A valuable asset to Prairie View's pitching staff over the course of his career; Whitby helped several former Panther pitchers earn All-SWAC honors due to his ability to call pitches from behind the plate.

ZACHARY VANELL
6-1, 200, Jr., Catcher, ARK.-PINE BLUFF
44th Round - 15th pick, 1326th Overall
ARIZONA
Pine Bluff native Varnell played in 39 games for the Golden Lions hitting .202 with four home runs and 11 RBI. He helped the team to a school-record in conference (13) and overall (21) wins.

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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