UPJ's Watkins Selected By Yankees In MLB Amateur Draft
UPJ Sports Information
6/12/2009 3:10:37 AM
(JOHNSTOWN, PA)---Pitt Johnstown senior right-hander Ben Watkins became the first Mountain Cat baseball player under head coach Todd Williams to be chosen in the Major League Baseball Draft when the New York Yankees selected him in Thursday's 40th round.
Watkins, a second team National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) All-American and a third team Daktronics All-American, led Pitt-Johnstown with a 7-1 record and a WVIAC single-season record 0.84 earned-run-average in 53.1 innings pitched. Watkins, the 2009 Daktronics Atlantic Region and WVIAC Pitcher of the Year, allowed just seven runs all season, five of which were earned. He also struck out a team-best 63, while walking only four.
In the final 2009 NCAA Division II statistics, Watkins, a graduate of Conemaugh Township Area High School, ranked second in the country in walks allowed per nine innings (.68), fifth in E.R.A. (0.84), 19th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.64), 22nd in hits allowed per nine innings (6.59) and 50th in victories (7).
Academically, Watkins was named a First-Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American with a 3.93 overall G.P.A. in Electrical Engineering Technology.