|
June 5, 2002--A pair of University of Delaware baseball standouts were selected in the 13th round on the first day of the annual major league baseball draft on Tuesday afternoon, June 4.
Junior catcher John Schneider was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 386th overall pick and junior outfielder Reid Gorecki was selected later that round by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 402nd pick. Both players have one year of eligibility left at the college level but could decide to sign with those clubs.
Delaware has now had six players drafted in the last two seasons under head coach Jim Sherman. The Blue Hens posted their 13th straight winning season this spring with an overall mark of 35-22, including a fourth-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 12-7 record.
Schneider, a 6-3, 215-pound catcher from Lawrenceville, N.J., was selected in the draft for the second straight year after being picked in the 24th round by the Detroit Tigers last June. He decided not to sign and returned for his junior year at Delaware in 2002.
This past season he earned first team All-CAA honors when he batted .315 and led the team with 52 runs batted in while starting all but three games behind the plate. He scored 44 runs and delivered 15 doubles and seven home runs during the season.
One of the nation's top defensive catchers, Schneider committed just four errors in 378 chances and threw out 29 of the 48 runners who attempted to steal.
Gorecki, a 6-1, 170-pound outfielder from East Rockaway, N.Y., also earned first team All-CAA laurels this spring after leading the Blue Hens with a .414 average, a mark that ranked fourth in the CAA.
He also led the team with 82 hits, a CAA-leading 66 runs scored, a league record nine triples and 12 home runs. He also knocked in 50 runs and was successful on 34 of 38 steal attempts.
Gorecki earned a spot on the CAA All-Tournament team.
Gorecki and Schneider were two of five CAA players selected on the first day of the draft. They joined first-round pick Dan Meyer, a left-handed pitcher from James Madison, selected by the Atlanta Braves; third-round pick Jared Doyle, a left-handed pitcher from James Madison, selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks; and 10th-round pick Ryan Williams, a right-handed pitcher from Old Dominion, selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
|
