Players receive chances

UC Irvine senior second baseman Brett Dalton, the lone Anteater named

first-team All-Big West Conference, leads a group of area baseball

standouts drafted or signed as free agents by Major League teams

Wednesday and Thursday.

Dalton, who hit a team-high .376 with 23 RBIs, playing primarily

at second base, was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 26th

round of the first-year player draft Wednesday. He was the 787th

player selected.

Vanguard senior third baseman Nik Crouch (26th round by the

Chicago Cubs), UCI relief pitcher Nash Robertson (27th round by the

Pittsburgh Pirates), UCI third baseman-designated hitter Matt

Anderson (31st round by the New York Mets), Orange Coast College

designated hitter Stephen Schneider (46th round by the Florida

Marlins), and UCI pitcher Glenn Swanson (49th round by the Texas

Rangers) were also drafted Wednesday.

UCI senior pitcher Steve Schroer has signed as a free agent with

the New York Yankees, while UCI senior outfielder David Kennedy has

signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Dalton, a member of the recruiting class brought in to resurrect

the program after a nine-season hiatus, had 10 doubles and three

triples, but no home runs in 50 games, 49 of which he started. He

stole 11 bases in 15 attempts.

Crouch, the 790th overall selection, hit .301 for the Lions. The

6-foot-4 transfer from Saddleback Community College had a team-best

10 home runs and 29 RBIs. Of his 40 hits, 17 went for extra bases to

help him compile a .579 slugging percentage.

Robertson, a 6-2, 225-pound senior, was the 811th overall pick. He

went 3-4 with an 4.81 ERA in his final college season. In 33 2/3

innings, he allowed 35 hits, walked 14 and struck out 26.

Anderson, a redshirt junior who bats left-handed, hit .322 with a

team-leading 18 doubles. He also had four home runs, 32 RBIs and 10

stolen bases in 16 attempts. He was the 929th player selected, but

could return for his senior year at UCI.

His .350 career batting average ranks fifth all-time among

Anteaters.

Swanson, a senior left-hander expected to apply for a medical

redshirt that would enable him to play next spring at UCI, pitched

just nine innings this season, before being shut down with a sore

pitching elbow. The 1,466th player selected this year, he was picked

in the 37th round by the Boston Red Sox after the 2004 campaign in

which he helped lead the Anteaters to their first trip to the NCAA

Division I regionals.

Schroer, who appeared in 29 games and started 11, went 7-5 with a

3.44 ERA, after working exclusively out of the bullpen his first

three seasons at UCI. He fanned 73 in 91 2/3 innings and was twice

named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week. His 2.85 career ERA

ranks fifth in UCI annals.

Schneider, the 1,379th overall selection, had the game-winning

double in the championship game of the super regionals. He hit .320

for the Pirates, who advanced to the four-team state championship

tournament for the first time since 1993.

The powerfully built 6-foot-5 freshman belted nine home runs to

share the team lead. His 44 RBIs were tops on a team that won the

school’s first Orange Empire Conference title since 1987.

Kennedy, whose calling card was his defense, hit .200 in 35

at-bats this season after hitting .325 with 21 RBIs as a junior.

Also drafted were former Anteaters David Huff and Matt Falk, as

well as Northwood High senior Shane Keough, the son of former Corona

del Mar High standout and veteran major league pitcher Matt Keough.

Huff, a left-handed pitcher who transferred from UCI to Cypress

College after his freshman season in 2004, went in the 19th round

(577th overall) to the Phillies.

Falk, who played two years as an infielder at UCI, before

transferring to the University of San Diego, was a 28th-round pick by

the Devil Rays. Converting to pitcher at USD, he had eight saves and

a 2.38 ERA in 30 appearances this season.

Keough was taken in the 36th round (1,091st overall) by the

Oakland A’s.

This group joins UCI junior standouts Chris Nicoll and Matt

Wagner, who were drafted Tuesday.

Nicoll, a second-team All-Big West starting pitcher, went in the

third round (82nd overall) to the Kansas City Royals.

Wagner, the Anteaters’ Most Valuable Player, was taken in the

ninth round (288th overall) by the Red Sox.