Five Kent State baseball players saw their names selected during this year’s Major League Baseball First-Year Draft.

One day after left-handed pitcher David Starn was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the seventh round, the Golden Flashes watched reliever Michael Clark go to the Houston Astros in the 20th round, shortstop Jimmy Rider go to Pittsburgh in the 26th round, pitcher Ryan Bores go to the Texas Rangers in the 27th round, catcher David Lyon also go to Texas in the 34th round and Nick Hamilton go to the hometown Cleveland Indians in the 35th round.

From that group, Starn, Rider and Lyon are seniors and will report to their new teams as soon as Kent State finishes its postseason run.

Bores and Hamilton are both juniors and Clark is a redshirt sophomore, so they will have some decisions to make once the 2012 season ends.

“We’ll let it all play out,” said Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin. “Obviously the seniors will move on, and then we’ll sit down with our juniors and see what their thoughts are. We’ll (support) whatever is best for them as players. Obviously we’d love to have everyone back, but that’s why guys come to Kent. The more guys we have drafted, the more high school players say, ‘Hey, that’s where we should go to develop.’

“We’ve lost good juniors before. Last year, we lost four high-impact juniors in the draft, and we came back and had even a better year this year.”

Clark has a 5.57 ERA in 32 innings this season, but his 48 strikeouts in that span have scouts intrigued about his potential as a power lefty out of the bullpen.

“Michael is a really athletic left-handed pitcher with great stuff,” said Stricklin. “The big thing for him is consistency. He had his best performance of his career in the 21 inning game versus Kentucky.”

While Clark is loaded with God-given ability, Rider is a self-made man who Stricklin calls “the best baseball player I’ve ever coached.”

“He’s not the most talented player, not the fastest, and he does not have the most power at the plate,” Stricklin continued. “But he is the all-time hit leader at Kent State and in the (Mid-American Conference), and he’s just a great baseball player. I was really thrilled when his name got called because sometimes people draft by profile. Jimmy is 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, and shortstops now are 6-2, 200.”

Rider’s hometown of Venetia, Pa., is just 18 miles south of Pittsburgh, “so I know he and his family are pretty thrilled to see him go to the Pirates,” Stricklin said.

For Bores, Wednesday marked the second time he was drafted by Texas in as many years. He was picked by the Rangers in the 26th round last year, “but the Rangers didn’t make an attempt to sign him,” said Stricklin.

Bores owns a 3.29 ERA and a 9-2 record as a starter in his first season with the Flashes.

“He has had a spectacular year for us, but he’s a guy whose stuff isn’t overpowering,” said Stricklin. “Scouts today look for right-handed pitchers with high velocity and strikeout numbers.”

Stricklin was particularly frustrated Lyon didn’t go earlier in the draft.

“I was disappointed for a while when he wasn’t taken (on Tuesday), and then I started to get worried,” said Stricklin. “To me, David Lyon is the best defensive catcher I’ve seen all year, or even in the last two years. I thought he’d have a chance to go pretty high in the draft. For whatever reason he dropped, but now he’ll get the opportunity to go to the Rangers and show what he can do.”

Lyon is hitting .284 this season with a team-high 10 home runs.

Hamilton’s selection by Cleveland was exciting on several levels. For one, his father Tom Hamilton is the radio voice of the Indians, “but I’m also thrilled for Nick, because he is such a hard worker and such a great kid.”

Despite being partially deaf, Hamilton won a job as the Flashes’ every-day designated hitter this season (.364 average).Four more Kent State baseball players saw their names get selected during Wednesday’s third day of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.

One day after left-handed pitcher David Starn was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the seventh round, the Golden Flashes watched reliever Michael Clark go to the Houston Astros in the 20th round, shortstop Jimmy Rider go to Pittsburgh in the 26th round, pitcher Ryan Bores go to the Texas Rangers in the 27th round, catcher David Lyon also go to Texas in the 34th round and Nick Hamilton go to the hometown Cleveland Indians in the 35th round.

From that group, Starn, Rider and Lyon are seniors and will report to their new teams as soon as KSU finishes its postseason run. The Flashes fly to Eugene, Ore. this morning for a three-game weekend series with the University of Oregon in an NCAA Championship Super Regional. The winner advances to the College World Series in Omaha.

Bores and Hamilton are both juniors and Clark is a redshirt sophomore, so they will have some decisions to make once the 2012 season closes for the Flashes.

“We’ll let it all play out,” said Kent State head coach Scott Stricklin. “Obviously the seniors will move on, and then we’ll sit down with our juniors and see what their thoughts are. We’ll (support) whatever is best for them as players. Obviously we’d love to have everyone back, but that’s why guys come to Kent. The more guys we have drafted, the more high school players say, hey, that’s where we should go to develop.

“We’ve lost good juniors before. Last year, we lost four high-impact juniors in the draft and we came back and had even a better year this year.”

Clark has a 5.57 ERA in 32 innings this season, but his 48 strikeouts in that span have scouts intrigued about his potential as a power lefty out of the bullpen.

“Michael is a really athletic left-handed pitcher with great stuff,” said Stricklin. “The big thing for him is consistency. He had his best performance of his career in the 21 inning game versus Kentucky.”

The final out of that marathon 7-6 win in Gary was also the fourth strikeout of the night for Clark, who pitched 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball to earn the win and improve to 3-4 on the year.

“I can see Michael as a Tony Sipp-type guy,” Stricklin said, referring to the lefty reliever for the Cleveland Indians. “I think Michael has a chance, if he gets a little more consistent, to be a big-time guy.”

While Clark is loaded with God-given ability, Rider is a self-made man who Stricklin calls “the best baseball player I’ve ever coached.”

“He’s not the most talented player, not the fastest, and he does not have the most power at the plate,” Stricklin continued. “But he is the all-time hit leader at Kent State and in the (Mid-American Conference), and he’s just a great baseball player. I was really thrilled when his name got called because sometimes people draft by profile. Jimmy is 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, and shortstops now are 6-2, 200.”

Stricklin compared Rider to former Major League shortstop David Eckstein, who was a World Series MVP for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 despite not having prototypical size for his position.

Rider is hitting .367 this season. He also has 27 doubles to lead the team that is No. 1 in the nation in that category.

Rider’s hometown of Venetia, Pa. is just 18 miles south of Pittsburgh, “so I know he and his family are pretty thrilled to see him go to the Pirates,” Stricklin said.

For Bores, Wednesday marked the second time he was drafted by Texas in as many years. He was picked by the Rangers in the 26th round just prior to transferring to KSU from Cuyahoga Community College last year, “but the Rangers didn’t make an attempt to sign him,” said Stricklin.

Bores owns a 3.29 ERA and a 9-2 record as a starter in his first season with the Flashes.

“He has had a spectacular year for us, but he’s a guy who’s stuff isn’t overpowering,” said Stricklin. “Scouts today look for right-handed pitchers with high velocity and strikeout numbers.”

Stricklin compared Bores to Cleveland’s Derek Lowe ” as a sinker-slider guy who doesn’t strikeout a lot of guys, but gets a bunch of ground balls.

“His (NCAA regional) win over Purdue is a great example. He pitched a complete game and dominated, but he only had two strikeouts. That’s probably the reason he didn’t go higher.”

Stricklin was particularly frustrated Lyon didn’t go earlier in the draft.

“I was disappointed for a while when he wasn’t taken (on Tuesday), and then I started to get worried,” said Stricklin. “To me, David Lyon is the best defensive catcher I’ve seen all year, or even in the last two years. I thought he’d have a chance to go pretty high in the draft. For whatever reason he dropped, but now he’ll get the opportunity to go to the Rangers and show what he can do.”

Lyon is hitting .284 this season with a team-high 10 home runs.

Hamilton’s selection by Cleveland was exciting on several levels. For one, his father Tom Hamilton is the Radio voice of the Indians, “so Nick has grown up around the organization and he’s loved the Indians all of his life,” Stricklin said. “But I’m also thrilled for Nick because he is such a hard worker and such a great kid, and he has overcome so many obstacles in his life to really thrive.”

Despite being partially deaf, Hamilton won a job as the Flashes every-day designated hitter this season. He has also seen some action at third base. He heads into this weekend’s Super Regional with a .364 batting average.

Courtesy of David Carducci, Record-Courier.