Pump Jacks, Bombers split series; several former ‘Jacks in MLB draft

June 11--The East Texas Pump Jacks' weekend was bittersweet: an extra-innings win Saturday and a pitcher's duel loss Sunday.

The club took Monday off from the grind of the Texas Collegiate League and was to go to Victoria for a twogame set Tuesday night and tonight.

East Texas (4-6 on the season so far) will be home at Driller Park all weekend. They return on Thursday night (and Friday) against Acadiana, and vs. Victoria on Saturday and Sunday. All Pump Jacks home games, unless start at 7:05 p.m.

As mentioned, the 'Jacks split with Brazos Valley last weekend, pulling a 3-2 victory in the 10th inning on Saturday night, but then falling 2-0 Sunday.

Saturday, Bobby Webb, a junior at Long Island University Brooklyn (N.Y.), led off the inning with a double and eventually scored when Drew McLaughlin, a freshman at Dixie State University plugged his way to a full count before ending the contest on a single that scored Webb.

The Pump Jacks allowed two early runs, both on wild pitches, but then tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Lead-off hitter and Kilgore native Matthew Dickey had an RBI triple to tie the game.

Marshall Kasowski, a freshman at Panola College, pitched two innings, striking out four, and Kyle Garvin of the College of Idaho went three innings and struck out three. Garvin got the win. He's 2-0 this season.

Tanner Cable, a sophomore at Northwest Mississippi, started for East Texas and threw the first five innings. With Cable on the mound, the Pump Jacks allowed two runs, just one earned, no hits, and he walked six. He struck out six, as well.

Sunday, it was another close game, but this one played out in favor of the Bombers.

The teams combined for just six hits. The Pump Jacks had three: Osborne was 1-for-4; Lear was 1-for-3; and Moroney was 1-for-2.

The Bombers scored one run in the top of the first and that was the margin for much of the game; they added an insurance run in the ninth.

For East Texas, Allen Ellis, a sophomore at Longwood University, started and eventually took the loss, which was a shame. He gave up one unearned run and three hits over the course of eight innings. He struck out three. Anthony Gonsolin, a sophomore at Saint Mary's, came on in relief for one inning, giving up one unearned run, no hits and walked one.

One of the pitchers on the East Texas Pump Jacks' 2012 Texas Collegiate League championship team is headed to one of the most loved -- and hated -- franchises in professional sports.

Former Pump Jack Jared Lindgren, who has played his college career at Mississippi State University, was drafted by the New York Yankees on Friday with the 55st overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft, the second round.

The pick that was used by the Yankees to draft Lindgren was the Yankees' only pick on the first day.

There are literally thousands of picks in the MLB draft each summer, and Lindgren's selection was tremendously high, but perhaps not far off the mark. Lindgren was projected by Baseball America as the 50th best overall prospect.

Lindgren is a finalist for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Stopper of the Year award, given annually to the top reliever in college baseball. For the Pump Jacks in 2012, Lindgren pitched 40 innings in the regular season, allowing 44 hits, 31 runs (just 16 earned), walked 21, and had 27 strikeouts. He had a 2-5 record and a 3.60 ERA.

Lindgren, a Bay St. Louis, Miss., native, was a freshman at MSU at the time. He had been drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the MLB draft in 2011, but elected to go to MSU instead. In high school, Lindgren helped St. Stansilaus to a state championship as a junior, then went 8-0 as a senior with 128 strikeouts in just 64 innings.

There were no current Pump Jacks drafted, but several former ones were. Pitchers Jason Jester (of Hallsville), Jordan Johnson, Jacob Kelzer and Corey Ray were all selected, as were infielders Brett Pirtle and Austin Pfeiffer and outfielders Taylor Murphy and Mitch Meyer, according to pumpjacksbaseball.com.

Ray was drafted by the Kansas City Royals with the 153rd overall pick (in the fifth round). Meyer was picked by the <org value="SL/mlb.milw.brew" idsrc="xmltag.org">Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh round (206th overall).

Murphy was selected in the 18th round by the Cleveland Indians; Kelzer was picked by the Yankees in the 22nd round; Jester, who starred at Texas A&M, was drafted by the San Diego Padres again (he had been drafted by them last year); Pirtle was picked in the 23rd round by the Detroit Tigers; and Pfeiffer was picked in the 27th round by Baltimore.

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