For the second year in a row, Bradley pitcher Rob Scahill (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook H.S.) has been selected during the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. A 48th-round pick by the New York Yankees in 2008, Scahill became an eighth-round pick (241st overall) by the Colorado Rockies Wednesday morning.
A fourth-year junior, Scahill earned honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in 2009 by posting a 3-3 record with a 4.05 earned run average in 10 starts. After overcoming an early-season oblique injury, he finished the season strong and earned Bradley's Mike Dunne Award, given annually to the team's top pitcher. Scahill was particularly dominant at O'Brien Field, where he went 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in four starts. The 6-foot-3 right-hander tossed a four-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory against Southern Illinois May 1 and tied the O'Brien Field record for strikeouts by a college or professional pitcher by fanning 12 in 8.2 innings against Evansville on April 18.
In his three years on the mound for the Braves, Scahill has posted a 10-15 record with a 4.70 ERA in 38 career appearances. In 214.2 innings, Scahill has struck out 187 hitters and held the opposition to just a .249 batting average.
Scahill's selection marks the second consecutive year a Bradley player has been taken in the eighth round of the MLB First Year Player Draft ? outfielder Dan Brewer last year by the New York Yankees ? and he becomes Bradley's earliest selection since pitcher Brandon Magee was chosen with the 120th overall selection (fourth round) in 2006 by the Toronto Blue Jays. Scahill also becomes the fifth Brave to be selected in the draft twice during his Bradley career. His 40-round jump in selections, however, is the best draft improvement of any of those five players.
Bradley Players Twice Drafted
Player Year 1 Round Team Year 2 Round Team
Rob Scahill 2008 48 New York Yankees 2009 8 Colorado Rockies
Steve Ellis 2000 12 Oakland Athletics 2001 18 Chicago Cubs
Jacob Schaffer 1996 50 Minnesota Twins 1997 28 Detroit Tigers
Brian Dour 1988 26 Detroit Tigers 1989 5 San Francisco Giants
Bob Bretwisch 1987 11 Seattle Mariners 1988 16 Baltimore Orioles
