Major league scouts at VCU

Twenty scouts from Major League Baseball visited the Diamond on Friday to rate players from VCU’s baseball team for the First-Year Player Draft.

The annual draft is held in July for teams to fairly distribute prospects that have no professional experience to farm teams with the hope that they will develop into “big league ball players.”

A farm team is a minor league affiliate of a major league team. Each major league team has several minor league affiliates in various leagues around the country.

Called the farm team system, the goal is to find and develop talent that will ultimately play in the major leagues.

“It’s a situation to allow upperclassmen to perform in front of scouts,” said assistant coach Shawn Stiffler. “It helps scouts in doing pre-work. They’re very busy in springtime.”

The scouts put the club through a rigorous workout. Players were required to run wind sprints, take batting practice and shag balls in the field. After the warm up, the club scrimmaged.

Four former players from the VCU club have made it to major league clubs, two of whom are in the playoffs this year. Alumni Brandon Inge (3B, Detroit) and Cla Meredith (RP, San Diego) are playoff bound, while Sean Marshall (SP, Chicago Cubs) and Jason Dubois (LF, Cleveland) are on teams that are rebuilding for future seasons.

Five current players are draft day favorites, and their shot at the “big leagues” were enhanced by a strong outing Friday.

The coming season looks to be a strong one for senior pitcher John Leonard and junior pitcher Cody Eppley.

In the field, junior shortstop Sergio Miranda, junior outfielder Kwan Evans and senior outfielder Trai Harris make a tough defensive trio.

“All of our upperclassmen have potential of playing professional baseball, and all players are interested,” Stiffler said.

“The seniors are tremendous leaders. They want to get back to the regional before they finish.”

With 13 freshman players joining the club, Stiffler indicated that the relatively young roster is working well together and the players are united. They have successfully bridged the gap between old and new.

The scouts aside, the club is focused on avenging the 6-7 loss to UNC Wilmington in the CAA championship game last year.

“All players are very focused with their sights on the goal,” said Stiffler, “but it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, playing baseball. They have a goal to accomplish. They have really enjoyed improving this fall.”

The winter will be spent conditioning for the 2007 spring season.