Home sweet home

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected a 6-foot-7 right-hander from Arkansas, two pitchers from Nebraska and the son of their major-league manager during the first 20 rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft.

Players such as Duke Welker, Matt Foust and Tony Watson and UC Santa Barbara’s Brian Tracy should be intriguing to follow this summer.

But the early candidate to become the State College Spikes’ fan favorite is a 5-foot-11 middle infielder who only hit six homers during a four-year college career.

The Pirates spent this week finalizing the Spikes’ initial roster, but Matt Cavagnaro should become the first former Penn State player to begin his professional career in State College.
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Spikes timeline

State College Spikes Timeline

April 3, 2002 — Curve Baseball LP completes its purchase of the Double-A Altoona Curve from Bob Lozniak and Tate DeWeese.

March
15, 2002 — Penn State trustees vote to name a new baseball stadium Medlar Field at Lubrano Park after receiving a $2.5 million donation from alumnus Anthony P. Lubrano. The field is named after former Penn State coach Chuck Medlar.
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June 8, 2007–The Pittsburgh Pirates complete the draft by selecting 45 players including Penn State second baseman Matt Cavagnaro and pitcher Gary Amato.

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Spikes planning for bigger things in 2007

Welcome to Year 2 of professional baseball in State College.

By all accounts, Year 1 was a good one.

The State College Spikes blended into Centre County as 138,619 fans walked into Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Finding
somebody who had anything negative to say about the Spikes proved to be
as difficult as advancing through a six-level farm system.

So what’s next for the team?
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Former Pirate Ward takes on manager duties

Turner Ward received some unusual advice when he ended his playing career after the 2001 season.

One of Ward’s friends told him to take a year off.

“That’s
basically what I did,” Ward said. “I didn’t do much of anything besides
go to my son’s Little League games and my daughter’s dance classes.
There wasn’t anything I was pursuing.”

As for professional baseball, it took some time for the game to find Ward again.

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Record five Nittany Lions selected in Major League Baseball Amateur Draft

Cavagnaro likely to start pro career with Spikes; Five picks most for any Big Ten school this year

University Park, Pa. — A total of five Penn State baseball players
were selected on Friday, June 8, in the Major League Baseball Amateur
Draft, tying a school record for the most in any single draft. The five
draftees is also the most of any Big Ten school this year, surpassing
the four each drafted from Ohio State and Minnesota, and the quintet
are also the first Penn Staters to be drafted since 2005.

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Products of the system

Sometimes the Pittsburgh Pirates get it right. Sometimes when they make
wise decisions it impacts their New York-Penn League affiliate.

Starting pitchers Paul Maholm and Tom Gorzelanny are examples of players who may trickle through State College one day.

Maholm
and Gorzelanny, a pair of NY-PL alums, comprise two-fifths of the
Pirates’ current starting rotation. The Pirates selected the
left-handers in the first and second rounds of the 2003 Major League
Baseball Draft.

Both players spent their first professional
summers with the Williamsport Crosscutters. The Spikes replaced
Willliamsport as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ short-season Class A affiliate
last fall.

“Those are great examples of guys that come through
our system,” Pirates senior director of player development Brian Graham
said.

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