Searles begins season in A-ball

While Penn alumni Doug Glanville and Mark DeRosa have found their way into the majors, Penn sophomore Jonathan Searles is still in pursuit of that quest.

The 6'3", 205-pounder currently pitches for the Williamsport Crosscutters, a Class A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 14-club New York-Penn League. The Crosscutters play a shortened season of 76 games.

Searles was drafted by the Pirates in the summer of 1999, and signed a contract with the team just months before his first days as a Penn freshman.

The professional contract made Searles ineligible to compete for Penn sports, as is stipulated under current Ivy League guidelines.

Searles was recruited by Penn football coach Al Bagnoli and Penn baseball coach Bob Seddon as a quarterback and a pitcher, respectively.

The native of Huntington, N.Y., began his pro career with Bradenton -- the Pirates' rookie-level club -- in July 1999.

He has since been promoted to his current team in Williamsport.

Searles has had some tough outings thus far in the 2001 season for the Crosscutters, which began on June 19. In three starts, Searles is 1-2 with an earned run average of 6.75. He has allowed 12 hits, 10 earned runs and seven walks while striking out 12 in 13.1 innings of work.

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Meanwhile, Penn 2001 graduate and baseball star Chris May is still looking to sign through free agency with a major league baseball team.

Despite selections to the All-Ivy first team, Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference first team, Collegiate Baseball newspaper All-America third team and American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-America third team, May was not picked by any team in the 50-round Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft held on June 5-6 in New York.

In a phone interview last month, May stated that he would "explore every alley possible" before giving up on a professional career in America's great pastime.

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