Bridge City ex Angelle likely to wait for '08

[Critter]

Former Bridge City pitcher Kevin Angelle's next best chance at being selected highly in the Major League Baseball draft may not occur until next year.

A left-hander, Angelle spent the past season at San Jacinto College as a draft-and-follow prospect for the Texas Rangers but never signed with the organization.

He is eligible to be selected a second time in the two-day Major League Baseball draft that starts today but will essentially be faced with a take-it-or-leave-it offer if picked.

"Hopefully I'll go in the same round or better than I did last year," said Angelle, a 13th-round pick by the Rangers last year.

A rule change has ended the draft-and-follow option, which allowed for players to wait until a week before the next year's draft to sign a contract.

Now all drafted players have until Aug. 15 to sign, which limits the amount of time in which they can mull an offer before being thrown into the next draft pool.

Angelle's advisor, Bobby Straface, said he does not foresee Angelle signing a professional contract this year.

"He'll be one of our top guys next year," said Straface, who anticipates Lamar outfielder Colin Delome will be chosen in the first five rounds today.

Angelle went 4-1 with a 3.91 ERA in 46 innings for San Jacinto. He struck out 36 and walked 32. The team placed fourth in the Division I JUCO World Series.

Junior college players are eligible to be drafted every year. Players at four-year colleges cannot be selected until three years after high school graduation.

Angelle guided Bridge City to the Class 3A state tournament as a junior and senior. He was projected by Baseball America to be picked in as high as the fourth round out of high school.

High school players commonly slide to lower rounds if it is apparent they will opt for college if certain financial requests are not met.

Angelle had withdrawn a commitment to Texas A&M and planned to attend San Jacinto at the time of last year's draft.

Angelle estimated his fastball dropped from the 88-92 mph range to 85-88 mph since his senior season at Bridge City. He said he worked out more in high school, which might have contributed to the drop.

"San Jacinto doesn't have much of a weight room," said Angelle, who plans to rededicate himself to working out while playing baseball for a Houston-area team this summer.

FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO PROS?

Bridge City centerfielder Johnny Dishon may be the top professional prospect among Southeast Texas high school players but said he doesn't figure to be selected highly.

West Brook infielders Tim Ferguson (Mississippi) and David Murphy (Houston) said during the season they did not anticipate being drafted.

Among other players, LC-M catcher Jake Rowell is signed with McNeese State. Pitchers Jeff Stringer of Bridge City, Beau Helmke of Nederland and Nick Christopher of Cathedral are signed with Lamar.

This from the Beaumont Enterprise