BASEBALL: Former Prep Standouts Selected In Draft

David Petrino
David Petrino

Three former area high school standouts were selected over the weekend in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which concluded on Saturday.

Pitchers Chris Oliver and Jalen Beeks squared off against each other in the Class 4A state title game as seniors in high school, but became teammates at Arkansas. Both will now have a chance to continue their baseball careers at the professional level.

Profile

David Petrino

School: Central Arizona

Height: 5-11

Weight: 200

Class: Sophomore

Notable: Led team and conference with a .425 batting average this season and earned first-team all-conference honors for the Vaqueros. .. Finished second in conference Player of the Year race. … Helped Shiloh Christian to ? state baseball titles and was named the state tournament Most Valuable Player in ?????.

Profile

Chris Oliver

School: Arkansas

Height: 6-4

Weight: 180

Class: Junior

Notable: Finished 9-4 with a 2.51 ERA as a starter for the Razorbacks this season. … Allowed one earned run or less in 10 of his 16 starts. … Pitched mostly out of the bullpen as a freshman and sophomore, including 14 games as a sophomre and 11 as a freshman. … Helped Shiloh Christian to back-to-back Class 4A state titles.

Profile

Jalen Beeks

School: Arkansas

Height: 5-11

Weight: 180

Class: Junior

Notable: Finished 6-4 with a 1.98 ERA for the Razorbacks this season as a part of the starting rotation. … Went 6-2 with a 2.20 ERA as a sophomore out of the bullpen for the Hogs, after transferring from Crowder College after his freshman year. … Went 6-3 with a save and a 3.32. ERA and 90 strikeouts in 78.2 innings. …Was a two-time all-state selection at Prairie Grove High School and led the Tigers to a state runnerup finish as a senior.

Oliver was selected in the fourth round by the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, while Beeks was taken by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday in the 12th round.

David Petrino, a high school teammate of Oliver's at Shiloh Christian, was taken by the Chicago Cubs in the 39th round on Saturday.

Oliver and Beeks both had difficulties before the draft, but enjoyed good seasons for the Razorbacks. Beeks, a left-hander, finished 6-4 with a 1.98 ERA. Oliver went 9-4 with a 2.51 ERA.

Beeks was sidelined for almost a month this season to rest a sore left elbow, but came back to throw 77 pitches and five shutout innings in Arkansas' 10-0 win over Bucknell in the NCAA regional. He struck out nine. He was rated as the No. 125 prospect by Baseball America, but was the 374th player selected.

Oliver was arrested on Tuesday on a DWI charge and the right-hander said he's he's trying to put it behind him.

"I made a mistake and I'm moving on from it," Oliver said. "You live and you learn."

Oliver was listed as high as the No. 48 prospect by the MLB network prior to the draft, but was the 112th player chosen overall. He acknowledged his mistake may have played a part in going lower than predicted.

"I knew from the mistake I made that I would slide a little bit, but I was fortunate enough to reach terms with the Phillies and after we had that locked in it was pretty emotional," Oliver said. "I'm excited for the opportunity to be with the Phillies and keep chasing by dreams."

Oliver and Beeks were both prep standouts in Northwest Arkansas before their college baseball careers. Oliver helped Shiloh Christian to a state championship, defeating Beeks' Prarire Grove team in the 4A state finals.

Oliver signed with the Razorbacks out of high school, while Beeks went to Crowder College for a year, before signing with Arkansas after his freshman year at the Neosho, Mo., junior college.

Oliver will be in the same organization as a former rival of the Razorbacks, LSU pitcher Aaron Nola, but he's excited about the challenge.

"I know Nola is a heck of a pitcher and he has been consistently great," Oliver said. "It's an honor to be in the same organization with him and hopefully one day when we both reach the big leagues we can be a power duo in Philadelphia."

Petrino led the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference in hitting with a .426 average and ranked 14th in the country among Division I junior colleges players. He was a teammate of Oliver at Shiloh Christian and helped the Saints to back-to-back state titles and recently signed a letter of intent to play at Oklahoma State.

Sports on 06/09/2014

Upcoming Events