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Show THE CHRONICLE UTAH SUMMER ill fjf i 1 J rJ Four Utes Selected in MLB Draft ASAD KUDIYA Chronicle Sports Writer pitcher Jason Wylie, were selected on the first day of the draft. The U baseball team suffered a huge loss, but in a way that can give the U a burst of pride. Four players from the 2002 team were selected during the Major League Baseball draft last week. Two juniors and two seniors were selected in the two days of player selection. Both Ute juniors, left fieldersecond baseman Donnie Saba and " ' ' ""Jin mmmmmMmmmJmmmmmmimmmnimmmmmJmmmmmmmnmmtMm Wylie was the first Ute to be selected, chosen in the 12th round (363 overall) by the Chicago Cubs. He was the ace of the U staff, and although the statistics didn't show it, he had the most potential to become the best U pitcher. "It was a pleasure this year to be able to coach a guy that we know is going to the major leagues," said U baseball coach Tim Esmay. Wylie finished the season with a 7 record and recorded 76 strikeouts in 103.2 innings of work. He also broke the school record with 19 starts. Saba, chosen in the 17th round (517 overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks, was more of a versatile player that Esmay could put at many positions. Saba was used primarily in left field, but was able to fill in for Adam Castle-to- n at second when Castleton was scratched from the line-u- p because of a leg injury. Saba led the team in runs scored (63) and was third on the team with 10 home runs. Saba was also consistent at the plate, owning a .312 batting average. The two seniors selected both went on day two of the draft Power hitting Nate Weese and pitcher Mitch Maio were the fourth-yea- r men who will to make it the in attempt big leagues. Weese, picked in the 23rd round .'- - i4.ujhi.hi n ASAD KUDIYA Chronicle Sports Writer fit The U baseball team is hot on the recruiting scale, as it received two letters of intent from Salt Lake City's Copper Hills High pitcher Jason Price and Arizona standout Tyler Kmekto. The signings need to continue for the Utes, as they have lost their core players to cither the Major League Baseball draft or graduation. The three Ute starters that chucked for the majority of this season will be gone in 2003. Jason Wylie and Mitch Maio were both selected in the draft, and Cheyenne Rushton finished his senior year with the Utes and has no remaining eligibility. Price was signed to remedy part of this problem, but he will probably not be a main focal point of the rotaJ tion. u z "The coaching staff is excited to pitcher like get a quality Jason in our program," U coach Tim 7-- Former U first baseman Nate Weese was chosen in the 23rd round. see DRAFT, page I i,..t V r mm1, UJ V U left-hand- Price was indomitable at Copper Hills, as he finished the year with a ui 0 record and a 1.03 earned run 2 s average this season. During his three (j letter years. Price collected a 1 record. Both the Salt Lake Tribune and Dcscrct News named him to the first team. 5A U coaching staff must the Still, find more pitchers in order to have the balance it had this season. On the other side of the plate, the fielding and hitting situation has gotten worse as a good portion of the infield is gone. First baseman Nate Weese was drafted, while second baseman Adam Castleton, who was considered the anchor of the infield, graduJ .., m mr nrrriT Wylie was -- iiTrrri Pitcher Jason mim idl ii mi ir ill 1 the first of four Utes chosen in - p i"' im.rrrT.. .... the draft. 5-- 16-- all-sta- Braves Game Made My Vacation Complete VALDEN l1 Chronicle Sports Columnist You haven't lived until you've tried to engage someone in conversation and had them reply, "Koobedy mow! Binkety ho lo bibbezy koo!" The first time I heard some New Orleans native "babble at me in Cajun, I was about as confused as a Sacramento Kings player stepping up to the free throw line in a Game 7 when trailing by two. Uhhhh,..what to do? Thirty seconds later, however, I was thoroughly pissed that I had to waste four semesters on Spanish classes to fulfill the foreign language requirement of my BA. degree when Cajun is so utterly easy to pick up. Lowbidy Baa! That's what I found out on my road trip. Being newly graduated and just as newly unemployed, I decided that the best thing to d6 about my dwindling bank account was to rent a car, reserve some hotel rooms and hit the road for 10 or n days. My two roommates and I collectively decided we'd go to the South. Not South as in Moab, or even South as in Mexico, but South as in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama... Never having been to these places before, I was bound to be astounded and amazed at what turned out to be not merely a different part of the country, but a different country altogether. Bein' a Yankee in Dixie, I saw and experienced things weirder than Kobe Bryant sporting a baby boomer's hair line. I went to Dallas and ate some authentic TexMex," which, according to one of the locals, you can only get in the Lone Star State. I had my picture taken by the sign in front of the skeletal, gutted Enron building in downtown Houston. I visited the tomb of voodoo priestess Marie Leveau in N'Awlins' famed Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 (where I was, incidentally, babbled at in Cajun by a crackpipe tour guide). I hit the beaches in Pensacola, f la. I went to Montgomery, Ala., where I searched in vain for a good 45 minutes for an alleged Martin Luther King Memorial that may or may not actually exist, then stumbled upon a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis right smack dab in front of the Capitol larger-than-li- fe I saw a lot of strange-as- s things in the land that prefers to refer to the Civil War as "The War of Northern Aggression." But none were better than finally getting to see my Atlanta Braves live and in the flesh. I had, of course, stipulated to my two buds well in advance that if they wanted me to fund a third of the excursion in exchange for putting up with their poor hygiene habits and cracker then we were including a stop in 1 1 USL D-- vs Blitzz Chico 3 (7-- (6-2- 2) ) t Stingers Las Vegas 612 at 7:30 p.m. Cottonwood High 612-1( 3 Atlanta to see the Braves play. As fate would have it, none of the other cities we visited that boast MLB teams (and there were a few) were hosting any games at the time we'd be visiting except Hotlanta. So, after a morning of visiting an actual, existing MLK memorial, following that up with sojourns to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, the Centennial Olympic Park, the Atlanta Underground shopping center, and, our trio saunfinally, the World of Coca-Coltered up to the ticket booth at Ted Turner Field k and purchased half a of seats up the (38-27- ) (34-43- ) at 8 p.m. Las Vegas, Nev. CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR 614 at six-pac- side. Now, it scarcely mattered that Kevin Millwood was the starter, rather than some legend like Maddux or Glavine. Or that the illustrious journeyman Darren Bragg and his equally illustrious .063 batting average would be starting in right and batting third in place of the injured Gary Sheffield... After all this was history in the making. Only months before had I finally been able to see my favorite NBA team, the Lakers, in person; suddenly, there I was, a native Utahn in Atlanta watching my favorite MLB team in action. 'The joy and the rapture I felt in the moment I took my seat has been equaled before only by first-bas- e all-sta- said. "With the losses of Adam Castleton and Brett Baldwin in the middle, we arc excited to see if Tyler can contribute right away for us." As such, the Utes have too many holes too fill for next season and may not get the necessary players to do it. The signings of these two potential stars is a step in the right direction. akudiya&chronicle.ut ah.edu ever-lovi- n' see WALDEN, page 11 (38-27- ) (29-32- ) WNBA vs Starzz Seattle 615 at (4-3- ) (3-2- vs ) WNBA Starzz Indiana 618 at 7 p.m. Delta Center RBRUNNERCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU (5 581-704- te all-regi- consuming exactly the right number of mixed drinks at a party. This was pure joy, bliss, nirvana and no Ken Griffey Jr. pansy-bo- y and his Cincinnati Reds Freakshow team was going 8 p.m. Tucson, Ariz. RORY BRUNNER While Castleton was injured, Donnie Saba filled in and played well, but then Saba moved back to left field when Castleton returned. However, the Utes will not have the luxury of Saba this season, as he was drafted into the bigs. Signing Kmekto was a step in the right direction, as he was a 5A honorable mention selection, and he was also a member of his team. "Tyler is a talented young athlete who has developed his potential as a player during the past year," Esmay ff at Stingers Tucson (& te ated. a, PCL PCL SOCCER ed Esmay said. irn 11 Baseball Signs Two Recruits to Fill Vacant Spots U 1 (4-3- ) (3-2- ) 7 p.m. Delta Center |
