With five rounds remaining in the 52-round Major League Baseball Draft held over the summer, 12 Ivy Leaguers had been selected. None were from Penn.
But the Cleveland Indians changed that fact in the 48th round, when they made Quakers junior right-handed pitcher Brian Winings the 1420th overall selection.
Despite being drafted, Winings did not sign a contract this summer. Rather, he will return to Penn for his senior year.
Penn coach Bob Seddon had thought Winings would be chosen in the late-20th to mid-30th round, likely by the New York Mets, who had expressed strong interest in the Reston, Va., native.
According to Seddon, the 6'2" 195-pound Winings "probably had higher stock before [this past] season started."
Indeed, in 2003, Winings recorded the best season of his Penn career. He was named first team All-Ivy League and he led the Ancient Eight in saves with eight, breaking both the Quakers' team and individual save records.
Following his impressive 2003 campaign, he spent the summer playing for the Vienna Mustangs, where he was named a Clark Griffith All-Star. He posted a 0.00 Earned Run Average in 18 appearances and tied a league record with 10 saves.
In 2004, however, Winings struggled in his transition to starting pitcher for the Red and Blue. In 11 appearances, he recorded a 7.42 ERA and only two victories.
But the Thomas Jefferson High School graduate ranked second on the Penn team in opposing batting average (.295), innings pitched (43.1), strikeouts (31) and batters struck out looking (6), while also setting career highs in innings and strikeouts.
This past summer, Winings played for the Holyoke Giants of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Also playing on the Giants were Penn baseball players Bryan Graves, Nate Moffie and Josh Appell.
Winings went 2-2 this summer, with a 3.16 ERA.
According to scouting reports from MLB.com's Draft Tracker, Winings is a power pitcher with a muscular build, and most importantly, a solid delivery.
Winings has the type of arm that could learn the slider, and he has action on all of his pitches.
While being drafted is certainly an honor for Winings, Seddon is glad that the right-handed pitcher will return to Penn next season for his senior year.
"We will have our whole pitching staff returning," he said.
Seddon presented former Penn pitcher Russ Brocato ƒ_" who was selected in the 29th round last year by the Baltimore Orioles and opted to forego his senior year at Penn to sign a contract with the Orioles as having been in a similar situation to Winings. He believes Brocato would have benefited from staying for his senior year.
This past season, Brocato went 2-5 with a 7.29 ERA with the Orioles' short-season team, the Aberdeen Ironbirds.
Brocato was one of three Quakers selected last year.
According to Seddon, however, the player who "is doing the best of our kids" is Penn graduate Nick Italiano, who was not drafted last year but signed a contract with the Phillies a week later.
He batted .349 with 21 Runs Batted In for the Gulf Coast Phillies, which earned him a promotion to the Lakewood Blueclaws of the Class A League.
Currently, Italiano plays for the Clearwater Threshers (A), where, as of Aug. 28, he is batting .179.
While Winings was the last Ivy League player selected in the draft, Princeton junior B.J. Szymanski was the first, drafted 48th overall by the Cincinnati Reds.
Szymanski was chosen the highest of any Tiger in the program's history.
This past season, Szymanski led the Tigers in nearly all offensive categories, including batting average (.362), hits (64) and RBIs (48).
Seddon was not surprised that Szymanski was chosen so early in the draft. In fact, he thought the Princeton outfielder would be selected in the first round, not the second.
"He's a finely-tuned player," Seddon said. "He's a switch hitter, he can run, he can throw, he can pretty much do it all."
Seddon noted from his experience, however, that Szymanski has trouble with the curveball from the right side.
As of Aug. 28, Szymanski was batting .259 with three home runs and 17 RBIs.
The second Ivy Leaguer selected in the draft was also from Princeton, Ross Ohlendorf. As a starting pitcher, he finished the Ivy season with a 7-3 record and a 3.46 ERA.
"He lost a little bit toward the end of the year, but he pitched well against Virginia" in the NCAA Regionals, Seddon said.
Ohlendorf was 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA as of Aug. 29.
Other notable Ivy League selections include Columbia center fielder Fernando Perez, chosen in the seventh round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Dartmouth shortstop Ed Lucas, an eighth-round pick by the Kansas City Royals.
Lucas earned 2004 Ivy League Player of the Year honors after batting .405.
Finally, Princeton junior outfielder Will Venable was chosen in the 15th round by the Baltimore Orioles.
Venable, who also starts for the Tigers basketball team, hit .356 in the Ivies last season with 13 stolen bases.
Venable also did not play in the minors this summer so he can return to Princeton for his senior year.
