June 9, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - A Patriot League record six student-athletes were chosen in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Friday, with Navy senior Mitch Harris earning the highest selection of the group after being picked in the 13th round by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Harris will have a fellow Patriot Leaguer joining him in the Cardinals' organization, as Bucknell senior Jason Buursma went to the team in the 25th round. Three senior student-athletes from Army came next, with Drew Clothier going in the 37th round to the Florida Marlins and Chris Simmons and Cole White being selected in consecutive rounds, the 41st and 42nd, by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Navy sophomore pitcher Oliver Drake was the final Patriot League pick, going in the 43rd round to the Baltimore Orioles.
Harris becomes the second-highest draft pick in Navy history, as his selection as the 395th overall pick was just 15 spots behind Matt Foster in 2003, and is the first Mid to be drafted twice. Harris completed his four-year career at Navy as one of the best pitchers in the program's storied 113-year history. The right-hander struck out 11.78 batters per nine innings over his career - the highest mark in school history - en route to a 20-13 record and a miniscule 2.51 ERA over 222.1 innings. Harris fanned more batters than innings pitched over each of his four seasons to rack up 291 strikeouts - the second-highest total in school and League history.
Buursma's spot as the 755th pick of the draft added to a long list of honors for his 2008 season, which also included his selection as the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association District I Player of the Year on Friday. Buursma was named the Patriot League Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2008, and also won Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player honors by recording the victory in all four of Bucknell's triumphs out of the bullpen. In the League's record book, Buursma ranks in the top-10 for five single season categories and three career categories. In addition to holding the league's ERA record (2.13), he is fourth all-time in career home runs (24) and third all-time in career saves (15).
In addition to joining the same organization, Harris and Buursma became two of only three student-athletes in Patriot League annals to be chosen in the draft on two separate occasions. Both came back to school after earning a spot in the 2007 MLB Draft, and both improved their stock as Harris was selected in the 24th round a year ago and Buursma went in the 43rd round in 2007.
Three Army student-athletes were selected for the first time in West Point history. Clothier went with the 1,108th pick to the Marlins, while Simmons and White were selected by the Pirates as the 1,224th and 1,254th picks of the draft, respectively.
Clothier, a senior left-handed pitcher, posted a 1-1 record with a 4.38 earned run average in 12 appearances for the Black Knights this spring. He allowed 76 base hits in 76 innings, striking out 62 and walking just 25 while holding down the No. 1 slot in Army's conference rotation throughout the season.
Army's starting catcher the past three years, Simmons posted a .318 batting average with nine doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 31 runs scored, 42 runs batted in and 91 total bases this spring, earning second team All-Patriot League honors in the process. He ranks sixth on Army's career list in runs batted in, tied for sixth in triples, seventh in total bases, 10th in home runs, tied for 14th in runs scored and tied for 26th in doubles.
The first player in Patriot League history to garner first and second team laurels at two different positions each of his first three years, White collected a second first-team citing in the outfield this spring. He earned Patriot League Rookie of the Year laurels in 2005 and League Player of the Year plaudits in 2007. White finished his final campaign batting .373 with 14 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 44 runs scored, 30 runs batted in and 101 total bases after missing the season's first nine games due to injury. He holds the Patriot League and Army career record for home runs (28), and is also Army's record-holder in doubles (44), total bases (380) and slugging percentage (.588) while ranking second in Patriot League and Army annals in base hits (232). He was selected as an outfielder by the Pirates.
Drake, a 21-year old right-hander, went to the Orioles with the 1,286th pick of the draft. He produced some of the best performances of his career during the latter portion of his sophomore season in 2008 to finish the year with a 6-3 record and a 3.70 ERA with a league-best 78 strikeouts over 80.1 innings. Over his last-four starts, he went 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA over 27.2 innings with only one walk and 34 strikeouts. During that span, he was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team and recognized as the ECAC and Patriot League Pitcher of the Week.
In total the Patriot League has seen 28 MLB Draft selections, including both of the selections for Harris and Buursma as well as two selections for Army's Nick Hill (2006 and 2007). The Patriot League has recorded 14 of those 28 selections in the past three years, with 11 coming in the last two seasons.
