D'backs draft Whitmer

Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball organization has given former Kilgore High School player Casey Whitmer something to think about.

Whitmer, fresh off his final season at KHS and graduation less than two weeks ago, was drafted Wednesday in the 35th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Diamondbacks.

The District 17-4A most valuable player and Kilgore News Herald baseball player of the year was the No. 1047 pick overall in the draft, listed on the MLB web site as a right-handed pitcher.

He's also a Navarro College signee, where coach Skip Johnson has three other former KHS bulldogs: Jess Todd, Pat McCrory and Josh Majors. Todd is actually going to the University of Texas. McCrory, a first-team All-American, and Majors, who was injured in the 2006 season that just completed, will both likely be back at Navarro, one of the state's premier JUCO programs, next season.

But will Whitmer?

The News Herald's player of the year, the son of Ted and Donna Whitmer of Kilgore, will have to make that decision.

In the 2006 season, Whitmer had fine numbers. He went 10-2 on the mound (often surrounded by scouts) and had 131 strikeouts in 78 innings. He had a 1.38 earned run average (ERA) and went 6-1 in district play, helping Kilgore win another district title outright, its third straight.

CASEY WHITMER DRAFTED - The former Kilgore High School standout was the 1,047th pick of the Major League Baseball draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. At the plate, Whitmer hit .419 with five home runs, 10 doubles, and 20 RBI. He had a slugging percentage of .750, and on-base percentage of .515 and scored 28 runs.

He helped KHS go 23-9 in 2006 (the Bulldogs are

50-12 over the last two seasons) and win the 17-4A title

before losing in the area round to Nederland in a one-game Class 4A playoff series Lufkin.

Todd and McCrory weren't drafted, although there was plenty of speculation they both would be. But both have high expectations for next season. Todd signed with Texas Tech out of KHS in 2004, but changed his mind and went to Navarro instead.

It looks to have been the right decision. Todd was the best pitcher in the Texas Eastern Athletic Conference in the regular season. Through 14 games this season, he pitched 73 innings, striking out 73 and allowing 61 hits. He walked just 21, and had an ERA of 1.43. He had a 10-2 record, including a tournament win over Delgado. And now it looks like he'll get to pitch for a tradition-rich Texas program.

McCrory is doing just fine, too. The NC freshman stunned many by earning

first-team NJCAA All-American honors last week, and was a legitimate candidate for national player of the year. Here's why - he had 93 hits in 189 bats this season (a .492 average), including 18 doubles and four triples, eight home runs and 61 RBI.

The MLB draft is 50 rounds and included 1,502 picks this year. And there were other draft choices that were interesting to people in the Kilgore area, as well.  Luke Hochevar, a right-handed

pitcher from the Fort Worth Cats, was the No. 1 overall selection. Hochevar was one of a host of pitchers used by the Cats in their exhibition here at Driller Park against the Shreveport Sports on May 3.

 Clayton Kershaw, a left-handed pitcher from Highland Park. Kershaw was the No. 7 overall pick on Tuesday. He was the first high school player selected. And he was the pitcher that the Kilgore Bulldogs defeated in the onegame series at Sulphur Springs two years ago.

 Clayton McMillan, the Carthage pitcher that helped the CHS Bulldogs win the Class 3A state title last year, was drafted in round 17 by the Colorado Rockies organization. KHS faced McMillan a few times in the last two years.

 Chris Davis, the teammate of Todd, Majors and McCrory at Navarro in 2006 and a former Longview High School standout, was drafted in round five by Texas.

 Lindale pitcher Carson Middleton, another 2006 opponent for KHS (in a playoff warm-up game just after the regular season) was drafted in the 49th round by Pittsburgh.

Whitmer joins former KHS standout Jeremiah Shepherd as a recent draftee. Shepherd was drafted in 2003 by the New York Yankees organization, and opted to play for Texarkana College. Shepherd is now at Southern University in New Orleans. Shepherd's father Ronald is a former MLB pro.