SIX PBC BASEBALL PLAYERS TAKEN IN DRAFT

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Six Peach Belt Conference baseball players were selected in the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which concluded on Wednesday evening. USC Upstate’s Brandon Williams was the first conference player selected in the draft, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 860th pick in the 29th round. Francis Marion’s Lee Tabor was also selected as were GC&SU’s Mike Deveaux and Michael Antonini. USC Aiken’s Nick Wandless and Robert Davis were also drafted.

Brandon Williams, from Tega Cay, SC, came to USC Upstate as a walk-on and earned a scholarship. Along the way, he worked his way into being one of the top pitchers in the history of the program. After four years in the program, Williams finished his career as USC Upstate’s all-time strikeouts leader with 202, surpassing the old mark of 158 in the first month of the season. He finished his career with an 18-11 record with 52 appearances and 42 starts in 245.1 innings of work.

Lee Tabor was taken with the 894th pick by the Cincinnati Reds in the 30th round. This past season, the Manning native posted an 8-5 record with a 3.19 earned run average. He completed eight of 16 starts with one shutout, and ranked among the NCAA Division II leaders in strikeouts with 118 in 115.2 innings. Opponents batted only .238 against him. Tabor helped lead the Patriots to their most successful season ever with a 41-18 record, earning a No. 6 national ranking, and advancing to the 2006 NCAA Division II College World Series. An honorable mention All-American in 2005, he owns an 18-10 career mark with a 2.84 ERA in three seasons at FMU. He has fanned 230 batters in 243.2 innings.

GC&SU’s Mike Deveaux was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with the 997th pick in the 33rd round. DeVeaux, a senior shortstop from Statesboro, GA, earned Second Team All-American honors for the second straight year. He batted .347 and was tied for the team and Peach Belt Conference lead with 10 home runs, while leading the league with 78 RBI. He also stroked 18 doubles and three triples, while scoring 53 runs and led the conference with 144 total bases. He also ranked seventh in the PBC with a .556 slugging percentage. He was the PBC Player of the Year as a junior in 2005.

USC Aiken’s Nick Wandless was also selected by the Cincinnati Reds with the 1074th pick in the 36th round. Wandless, a native of Evans, Ga., was named a First-Team All-American at the conclusion of the 2006 season. He became the first Pacer pitcher in a decade to earn All-Conference honors. The four-year closer for USC Aiken turned in a 2-1 record with 17 saves and a 1.56 earned run average, striking out 48 and walking just nine in 34.2 innings pitched. He held opponents to a .137 batting average. For his career, Wandless set a new NCAA record for career appearances with 114, breaking the 17-year-old mark of 109. He is also the school’s, conference’s, and NCAA’s all-time saves leader with 32.

GC&SU’s Michael Antonini was taken by the Phillies in the 41st round with the 1237th selection. A junior left-handed pitcher from Aston, PA, Antonini was named All-American in his first year with the Bobcats after posting an 11-1 record with a 2.93 earned run average in 16 appearances and 15 starts. He tallied 63 strikeouts with only 20 walks in 101.1 innings pitched. He was tied with teammate Michael Newman for second place in the conference in victories.

USC Aiken’s Robert Davis was the final PBC player drafted, taken by the San Francisco Giants in the 50th round with the 1484th pick. Davis led the Pacers in batting average (.345), hits (89), doubles (22), home runs (5), slugging percentage (.488), and RBI (57) in earning ABCA First-Team All-Region honors behind the plate. His 22 doubles ranked second in the PBC while he was fifth in runs batted in. In addition, the senior from Evans, Ga. was third in runs scored with 44. Davis set single season records in 2006 for at bats (258) and games played (64).

Sources: Major League Baseball and Peach Belt Conference