June 11, 2009

Rosenthal, Kohlscheen taken on second day of Major League Baseball draft

A pair of hard throwing right handers that helped lead the Cowley College baseball team to the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, CO. were selected in the Major League Baseball draft on Wednesday. Trevor Rosenthal, the Tigers’ closer, was selected in the 21st round by the St. Louis Cardinals, and Stephen Kohlscheen, who led the pitching staff in wins, was taken in the 30th round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I am happy for both of them,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “They put in a lot of work to make their (draft) stock even better.”

Former Tiger Michael Dabbs, who just completed his senior season at Oklahoma State University, was also drafted by the Phillies in the 17th round.

Burroughs, who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals organization in 1975, knows how special it is to be drafted by a major league club.

“It’s the first step of the dream, you can’t get to that level unless you are drafted,” Burroughs said.

Rosenthal, whose fastball has been clocked at 96 miles per hour, led Cowley with eight saves. The freshman from Lee Summit, MO, posted an earned run average of 2.40 and a record of 1-0 in 29 innings pitched. He struck out 41 batters, while walking 14.

Kohlscheen went 9-3 with an earned run average of 2.80. He led the Tiger pitching staff in strikeouts (73) and was second on the team in innings pitched (70 2/3). He finished his two seasons at Cowley with a record of 13-7, while striking out 115 batters and walking only 42.

Kohlscheen, who recently signed to pitch next season at the University of Auburn, will have to decide whether to sign with the Phillies or continue his collegiate career.

Dabbs, a first-team NJCAA All-American and the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division Most Valuable Player with the Tigers in 2007, earned first-team All-Big 12 honors as a senior at OSU after hitting .337 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs. He added a Big 12 best six triples and led the Cowboys with a .668 slugging percentage.

Dabbs holds the Cowley College school record for hits in a season (98), hits in a career (157), runs in a season (75), runs in a career (131), times hit by pitch in a season (21), and times hit by pitch in a career (38).