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Arizona bound?

Pippin selected with 861st pick in MLB draft

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

He had to wait until the second day of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft but his name was called. With the 861st pick, McIntosh first baseman Trevor Pippin was selected by the Arizona Diamonbacks in the 29th round of the draft.

Instead of sitting around watching all of the draft coverage, Pippin went out and ran errands. Upon returning home, he checked in and heard his name as the first name called in the 29th round.

“I thought I must have misheard it or something,” said Pippin, who checked the information several times before believing it. Afterwards, a member of the Diamondbacks staff called him and made it official.

Pippin, a 6’2 190 pound, three year starter for the Chiefs, had already signed a letter of intent to attend and play baseball for Middle Georgia College. He has yet to make a decision on whether to go to college or to enter the Diamondbacks minor-league system. Diamondback officials will be coming out to meet with him and his family within the next 10 days.

“I’m pretty excited,” said Pippin. “It’s an honor to be selected by a major league team.” After the announcement, his family took him to dinner at Red Lobster and since then he has been fielding dozens of calls from interested people.

McIntosh head coach Toby Black was pleased for Pippin and had nothing but praise for the versatile young player.

“He has a nice swing, a good frame and a lot of potential. He is an athlete and he can play,” said Black.

Pippin spent a majority of the time this season at first base but also played a little in the outfield and pitched. He is expected to play all three positions at Middle Georgia and has been told that the pro teams are looking at him to play outfield because of his arm strength and his speed.

Before being drafted, Pippin selected Middle Georgia for their success in grooming players for the big leagues. Over 140 players from Middle Georgia have signed professional baseball contracts. The school has also been to the Junior College World Series 12 times and has won four national championships.