Six Lancers Anticipate Possible First-Year Draft

RIVERSIDE >> Dreams will come true for 1,200 baseball players during the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, taking place Thursday to Saturday, June 9 through 11. Within that mix, six California Baptist University players will be waiting and hoping to see their names called. Juniors Tyson Miller, Dylan Stowell, Mark Sanchez, Stephen Lohr, and seniors Jeremy McDonald and Antonio Chavarria have all made strong cases to be drafted over their collegiate careers. They all enjoyed strong seasons in 2016 with the Lancers, as well, and will hope it will pay off come the draft. The MLB Draft's first round, along with the competitive balance picks, will be made Thursday starting at 4 p.m. PDT. The rest of the selections will be made Friday (rounds 2-10, starting at 9:30 a.m.) and Saturday (rounds 11-40, starting at 10 a.m.). The draft can be followed at MLB.com, with the first two rounds also being broadcast on the MLB Network. There is a rich draft history at CBU, with the Lancers poised to have a player drafted for the seventh year in a row this weekend. Twenty-six Lancers have been drafted over the past 34 years, with 15 players taken during Coach Gary Adcock's 12-year tenure. Adam Hofacket is the most recently-drafted Lancer after being selected in the 10th round at 315th overall by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2015. Multiple CBU players have been drafted in two of the last three years. Three players, including Trevor Oaks and Caleb Dirks, were selected in 2014 after two were taken in 2013. A program-high four players, including Sharif Othman, were taken in 2011. Hofacket, Oaks, Dirks, and Othman are the four Lancers active in the minor leagues. Hofacket and Dirks are currently listed as top-30 prospects in the Dodgers and Angels farm systems, respectively. Chavarria, Lohr, McDonald, Miller, Sanchez, and Stowell will all look for similar success at the next level if they are selected this weekend. Miller enters the draft as a top-200 prospect at 189th overall, which—if holds—would make him the highest-ever selection in CBU history. Oaks currently holds that distinction after the Dodgers took him in the seventh round at 219th overall in 2014 after being the 199th-ranked prospect going into the draft. The right-handed pitcher, Miller, was a three-time All-West Region selection in Division II this season after posting a 2.27 earned-run average and a 1.05 WHIP. He collected nine victories and struck out 92 batters in 107 innings. After earning three All-American and West Region Player and Pitcher of the Year awards this season, Lohr and Stowell could be drafted coming off banner 2016 campaigns. Lohr, a third baseman, batted .403, slugged .665 and posted a .496 on-base percentage. He logged 137 total bases, scored 64 times, drove in 50 runs and hit 10 home runs. Stowell, a right-handed pitcher, logged a 1.52 ERA and 9-0 record, with 81 strikeouts and a .235 opposing batting average. Sanchez is the fourth Lancer who could be drafted after his junior season this weekend. The catcher batted .323 with 30 runs, 40 runs batted in and 18 extra-base hits. He logged a .985 fielding percentage and caught 17 of 31 would-be base stealers. McDonald and Chavarria also have draft-day hopes. McDonald, a left-handed pitcher, struck out 88 batters and logged a 2.14 ERA and .237 opposing batting average in 84 innings. Chavarria, a first baseman, completed one of the most successful careers in Lancer history by hitting .321 with a .592 slugging percentage as a senior. He smashed 29 extra-base hits, including 15 home runs, scored 51 times, and drove in 50 runs.