The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/535299
20 ■ THE WOLFPACKER TRACKING THE PACK Five current Wolfpack players and two members of the incoming recruiting class heard their names called in the 2015 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, held June 8-10. Senior shortstop Logan Ratledge was first to go. The Pittsburgh Pirates took Rat- ledge in the 13th round, with the 397th overall pick. Ratledge led NC State in most offensive categories in 2015, including bat- ting (.329), doubles (19), home runs (10), stolen bases (11 in 14 attempts), walks (32), hit by pitch (13), on-base percentage (.431) and slugging percentage (.558). He also helped to stabilize the infield defense when he moved from second base to short- stop April 26, which coincided with the start of the team's late-season hot streak. Junior right-hander Curt Britt went next, to the Miami Marlins in the 19th round with the 566th overall pick. A transfer from South Carolina, Britt was a reliever early in the year but moved into the weekend rota- tion late in the season, posting a 0.95 ERA in four starts covering 19 innings. He fin- ished the year with a 3-1 record and a 2.24 ERA. He made 19 appearances, allowing 46 hits and striking out 53 in 56 1 ⁄3 innings. The Milwaukee Brewers drafted junior right-hander Jon Olczak in the 21st round, with the 631st overall pick. Olczak was a mainstay out of the bullpen for NC State, especially during the Wolfpack's red-hot month of May. Olczak made five appear- ances in May, including four against even- tual Super Regional participants Louis- ville, Florida State and Miami, and allowed just two runs on six hits in 14 innings while striking out 15. For the season, he was 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA and a save. He allowed 27 hits and struck out 47 in 42 1 ⁄3 innings. Junior left-hander Brad Stone had what amounted to a lost season for the Wolf- pack, but showed enough in personal try- outs to convince the Boston Red Sox to draft him in the 24th round with the 711th overall pick. Stone, who missed much of 2014 with what was termed "a dead arm," made just eight appearances in 2015, three of them starts, and was 1-0 with a 5.28 ERA. While his velocity returned from his 2014 dip, he was largely ineffective, and allowed eight runs in his last seven innings. The final Wolfpacker to get the call was senior center fielder Jake Fincher, who went to the Chicago White Sox in the 29th round, with the 862nd overall pick. Fincher batted .291 for the season, hitting seven doubles, three triples and three home runs with 22 RBI. He battled injuries the entire season, but still gave NC State peerless defense in center field and clutch hitting at the plate. Fincher began the season nursing a quad injury and missed four of the Pack's first eight games before moving back into the starting lineup to stay. He was hitting as high as .375 the first week of April before tailing off the last six weeks of the year. All five drafted players signed with their respective teams and as of June 15 were awaiting assignment to a minor league af- filiate. Only two NC State recruits were drafted, making this one of the most painless drafts for the Wolfpack in recent memory. The Toronto Blue Jays selected third baseman Christian Williams of Gulf Coast Com- munity College in the 16th round with the 482nd overall pick. Williams, who batted .320 with 12 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 46 RBI in 54 games for Gulf Coast in 2015, signed with the Blue Jays shortly after the draft. The Red Sox drafted catcher Jack Con- ley of Raleigh's Leesville Road High School in the 30th round with the 891st overall pick. Boston reportedly showed interest in Conley in the early rounds of the draft, but he expressed a desire to at- tend college and the Red Sox backed away until the 30th round. Widely regarded as the best high school catcher in the state of North Carolina, Conley is expected to play for the Wolfpack. — Bruce Winkworth Five Pack Players Selected In MLB Draft Senior shortstop Logan Ratledge was the first player with NCSU ties off the board in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft; he was picked in the 13th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS