June 7, 2006

NEW YORK CITY - Ohio baseball senior pitchers Anthony Gressick and Derek Witt have been selected in the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Gressick was taken in the 26th Round by the Cincinnati Reds while Witt was selected in the 28th Round by the Detroit Tigers.

Gressick, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, was drafted as a pitcher by the Reds as the 774th overall selection in the 2006 Draft. A right-handed hurler, Gressick was a standout at the plate as well as on the hill for the Bobcats during his recently-completed four year career. As a pitcher, Gressick recorded a career 4.09 ERA in 21 starts and 37 appearances with a 10-6 record. He led the Mid-American Conference with a 2.76 ERA as a junior in 2005 when he limited opponents to a .268 batting average and recorded two complete games. As a senior this past season Gressick finished 4-1 with a 4.47 ERA and recorded 49 strikeouts in 54 1-3 innings pitched.

A 2006 All-MAC selection as a designated hitter, Gressick finished his career at the plate ranked third on Ohio's all-time list with 36 home runs, fourth with 384 total bases, fifth with 44 doubles, sixth with 228 hits and sixth with 157 RBIs. After leading Ohio in eight-different offensive categories in 2006, he became the first Bobcat since 1979 to earn three-straight All-MAC First Team selections.

Witt, a pitcher from Powell, Ohio, was taken as the 832nd overall pick in 2006 Draft. The right-hander was the workhorse of the Ohio staff in each of the past two seasons when he led the Bobcats in innings pitched with 92 and 91 2-3, respectively, during his junior and senior campaigns. He went 12-8 as the team's lead starter in the weekend rotation the past two years and compiled a 3.98 ERA in 26 starts and 46 appearances during his four-year career. Exhibiting exceptional control, Witt finished his career with 182 strikeouts against just 63 walks.

Draft Notes
• Gressick and Witt became the 25th and 26th Ohio pitchers - and the 36th and 37th players overall - to be drafted since Bobcat Head Coach Joe Carbone took over the program in 1989. Ohio has had multiple draft picks in 11 of Carbone's 18 years at Ohio.
• Gressick is the first Ohio player to be taken by Cincinnati since Marc Cornell in 2003.  Cornell did not sign with the Reds and was drafted and signed by Texas in 2004.
• Witt is the first Bobcat to be selected by Detroit since Chuck Lombardy in 2000.
• Gressick and Witt became the seventh and eighth MAC pitchers - and the 12th and 13th league players overall - to be selected in the 2006 Draft.
• Kent State's Emmanuel Burriss was the first MAC player to be drafted when he went as the 33rd overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in the supplemental portion of the first round.
• If Gressick and Witt sign, Ohio would have six former players on rosters of Major League affiliates. Ben Crabtree (Texas Rangers), Adam Fox (Texas Rangers), Cory Keylor (Baltimore Orioles) and Adam Russell (Chicago White Sox) currently appear on minor league rosters.