The Pittsburgh Pirates today signed the following players from the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. The announcement was made by Joe DelliCarri, Pirates Director of Scouting.
(Round 4) Taylor Gushue – C (6-1/215) University of Florida
Affiliate: Jamestown
Was named a Second-Team Louisville Slugger All-American in 2014…Also earned All-SEC First-Team honors…Started all 63 games this season for the Gators…Posted a career-best .316 batting average while also leading the university in home runs (six), total bases (105) and RBI (49)…Was named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, which recognizes the nation’s best catcher…Was rated by MLB.com as the 106th-best player available in the draft and 107th by Baseball America…Hom- ered on the very first pitch he saw as a collegian off Dylan Floro in an early February 2012 game against Cal State Fullerton.
(Round 8) Austin Coley – RHP (6-3/200) Belmont University
Affiliate: Jamestown
Led the Ohio Valley Conference in ERA (2.72) while also finishing the 2014 season with a 5-1 record…Also ranked second in the conference in batting average against (.218) and strikeouts per game (5.67) while finishing third in strikeouts (85)… Was rated by Baseball America as the second-best prospect in the OVC in February of this year…Was named a Second-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference this past season.
(Round 16) Sam Street – RHP (6-3/200) Univ. of Texas-Pan American
Affiliate: Jamestown
Was a member of the Louisville Slugger All-American Second-Team and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-American Third-Team, the WAC Pitcher-of-the-Year and College Sports Madness WAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, an All-WAC First-Team selection, a four-time WAC Pitcher-of-the-Week and one-time College Sports Madness WAC Player-of-the-Week award honoree, the Madness Preseason WAC Pitcher-of-the-Year and a member of the Madness Preseason All-WAC First -Team in 2014…Was the WAC Pitching Triple Crown winner in 2014, leading the conference in every major pitching category, including wins, ERA, strikeouts, complete games, WHIP, hits allowed per nine innings, walks allowed per nine innings, op- ponents batting average (.217) and innings pitched (129.1).
(Round 18) Erik Lunde – INF (5-9/180) Lander University
Affiliate: Jamestown
Hit .369 with 20 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 52 RBI and 76 runs scored this year…Also recorded a .643 slugging percentage and was 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts…Earned First-Team All-American honors by ABCA/Rawlings and was named Second-Team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association this past season.
(Round 19) Carl Anderson – OF (6-0/185) Bryant University
Affiliate: Jamestown
Hit .324 with 11 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 41 RBI and 49 runs scored this past year…Also stole a Division I program record 31 bases and became the Division I leader in career stolen bases along the way…Finished his career with 173 hits, 22 doubles, 106 RBI, 109 runs scored and 56 stolen bases…Was named a First-Team All-Northeast Conference as a sophomore.
(Round 28) Nick Neumann – RHP (6-3/205) Central Connecticut State Univ.
Affiliate: Jamestown
Posted a 2.38 ERA and earned Second Team All-Conference honors in his final season at Central Connecticut State…Also posted a 6-3 record with four complete games and a pair of shutouts in 2014 while striking out 50 batters and walking just 15 batters in 72.0 innings of work.
(Round 32) Montana DuRapau – RHP (5-11/175) Bethune-Cookman University.
Affiliate: Jamestown
Posted a career program-record mark of a 25-15 record and 287 strikeouts in a record 350.1 innings pitched while re- cording a 3.19 ERA in 66 games for Bethune-Cookman…Was named a First-Team All-Mid Eastern Athletic Conference selection in 2013.
The Pirates have now signed 12 players from this year’s draft
Information provided by the Pittsburgh Pirates Media Relations Dept.
