Penn recruit makes minor league debut

Pitcher Jonathan Searles, who will attend Penn in the fall, surrendered three runs in his first appearance. Professional baseball did not exactly greet Jonathan Searles with open arms. In fact, the Bradenton Pirates pitcher, who will be attending Penn in the fall, would be hard-pressed to call his minor league debut anything but a slap in the face. Searles took the mound for the first time professionally in the seventh inning on Friday at Twin Lakes Park against the Fort Lauderdale Orioles. He had an 0-2 count on third baseman Ed Rogers, the first batter he faced, and had a curveball gripped in his glove, but catcher David Diaz called for an inside fastball. And Rogers promptly smashed Searles' pitch over the left field fence. "I tried to throw a fastball inside," Searles said. "I made a pretty good pitch, but the hitters [in the minors] are basically the best hitter on everyone's high school team -- one after another -- so you can't get away with mistakes." Searles allowed no more long balls in his debut, but getting out of the inning would not prove to be easy. Orioles' first baseman Alfredo Leon followed Rogers' homer by reaching base on an error and stole third after teammate Alex Gordon drew a walk. Searles finally recorded an out when Charlie Dees flied to left, but Leon tagged up and scored on the play. Octavio Martinez flew out to center for the second out of the inning, but designated hitter Kyle Martin then proceeded to double to right, scoring Leon. Searles stranded Martin at second, however, as the 6'3'' 195-lb. right-hander induced shortstop Nicolas Garcia to fly to center for the third out of the inning. When the smoke cleared, Searles was saddled with three runs -- only one earned -- on two hits in one inning pitched. It was not a stellar opening for Searles, but he redeemed himself four days later against the Port Charlotte Rangers. Pitching at Bradenton's home park, McKechnie Field, Searles worked a scoreless eighth inning to preserve a 2-1 Pirates advantage. The Rangers would eventually prevail, 5-2, in 13 innings, but the incoming Penn freshman held the lead for Bradenton. The inning began much less auspiciously for Searles on Tuesday, as left fielder Ricky Angell quickly grounded to third for the first out. Searles gave up a single to the next batter, right fielder Eddy Ramos, but retired Orlando Cruz and Ernies Baez to get out of the inning without any damage. The Huntington, N.Y., native approached the game on Tuesday with a much different pitching strategy -- to utilize the fielders behind him. "I had Saturday, Sunday and Monday to think about how I did on Friday and it gave me a chance to look back on things and understand what I had to do," Searles said. "So I went out there and I just tried to throw strikes and keep the ball down." And that strategy worked nearly perfectly for Searles, as he retired the side in a Greg Maddux-esque manner -- in just nine pitches. Thus far, Searles has given up three hits and one walk in two innings for Bradenton. His earned run average stands at a respectable 4.50. Searles had been recruited as a quarterback for Penn's football team, but was drafted in the eighth round of the Major League First Year Player Draft by the Pirates in June. He gave up his athletic eligibility at Penn by signing with the Pirates on June 18 -- a decision Searles says he does not regret at all -- but the Bradenton right-hander will still attend Penn full-time as a student for at least two years. Searles, a projected starting pitcher, is expected to remain in the bullpen with Bradenton in the Gulf Coast League for the rest of the season as the Pirates increase his workload.

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