Lee University had a banner year in baseball, reaching its fourth straight NAIA final four, and to top it off the Flames had a school-record four players taken in the major league draft that concluded late Wednesday afternoon.
Senior pitchers Shay Crawford and Maxx Catapano joined two Tuesday picks from the Cleveland school, outfielders Chris Grayson and Jonathan Clark. Crawford, a first-team All-American, was selected by Tampa Bay and Catapano by Seattle. Grayson was selected by Texas and Clark by the New York Mets.
“We thought we might get three, but the fourth was a surprise simply because there were more teams looking at the other guys,” Flames coach Mark Brew said.
Also chosen Wednesday – by Baltimore – was Chattanooga State pitcher Pat Merkling. The left-hander went 11-1 record with a 2.00 ERA while striking out 103 in 85 innings. He was the TCCAA pitcher of the year.
Catapano pitched behind Crawford, and Brew indicated that a lot of the scouts would visit to watch Crawford and then take off.