Over the weekend, Mercyhurst shortstop Zak Blair was drafted by the Chicago Cubs.
It didn’t take long for Blair to sign. He signed his contract Monday in a ceremony at the school.
Here’s some video of Blair from Monday:
Zak Blair MLB Signing from Mercyhurst SID on Vimeo.
Former Mercyhurst University shortstop Zak Blair, a Jefferson, Ohio, native will get a chance to realize his baseball dream.
Blair, who just completed his senior season with the Lakers, was picked in the 20th round (588th overall) by the Chicago Cubs in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft Saturday.
Blair told Times-News reporter John Dudley he was happy his hard work paid off:
“I’m proof that it doesn’t matter where you come from or how big you are. If you work hard enough, people will notice and they’ll find you.”
Blair is the 14th Mercyhurst player to be selected in the draft. Left-handed pitcher Nick Gillung was the last former Laker picked when he went to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 19th round in 2011. View a full list of Lakers’ draft picks here.
Blair led the Lakers with a .329 batting average this past season and was named to the all-PSAC West second team. Blair led the team in runs (26), hits (57), doubles (12), total bases (71) and slugging percentage (.410). He also had a .960 fielding percentage and earned an ABCA/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region Gold Glove honor.
Blair was among seven former PSAC players picked in the draft.
Mercyhurst University’s Zak Blair, left, was picked in the 20th round by the Chicago Cubs.
Gannon’s Shayne Herold, Mercyhurst’s Ben Rawding and Penn State Behrend’s Vinny Rice each were named to all-region baseball teams Monday.
Herold made the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region first team. The redshirt senior right-hander finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and 1.09 earned-run average.
Rawding, a senior left-hander, made the Rawlings/ABCA second team after finishing 9-3 with a 2.66 ERA.
Herold and Rawding each were named to earlier all-region teams.
Rice, meanwhile, made the D3baseball.com Mideast Region third team. The senior first baseman had a .378 batting average with 45 hits and 26 RBIs.
Shayne Herold
Gannon starting pitcher Shayne Herold was named first-team all-Atlantic Region by both Daktronics and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association today.
Herold, a redshirt senior righthander, finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and 1.09 earned-run average.
He was joined on the NCBWA first team by Mercyhurst relief pitcher Tanner Delahoy, a junior righthander who finished with a 2.20 ERA.
Gannon pitcher Aaron Cox and Mercyhurst pitcher Ben Rawding and shortstop Zak Blair made NCWBA honorable mention.
Gannon’s Jeff Bellanca made the Daktronics second team as a utility player.
David Lough
Former Mercyhurst University baseball standout David Lough has been called up to the major leagues by the Kansas City Royals.
It’s his second trip to the big leagues after spending the end of the 2012 season.
Read more about Lough and his call-up on the Extra Innings blog.
PSAC Tournament updates:
Update 1: Cal leads Mercyhurst 5-3 through in the third inning. Check here for live stats.
Update 2: Mercyhurst is batting in the bottom of the sixth trailing Cal 7-6.
Update 3: Mercyhurst trails Cal 8-6 going into the ninth. Cal up in the top of the inning.
Final score: Mercyhurst loses to Cal 8-6 and is eliminated from the PSAC tourney.
PSAC Tournament updates:
Gannon update 1: Gannon takes a 2-0 lead over Slippery Rock in the first inning on Nico Baldelli’s two-run double.
Gannon update 2: A three-run homer by pitcher Aaron Cox has given Gannon a 6-2 lead over Slippery Rock through five innings.
Gannon update 3: Gannon’s Nico Baldelli is now 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs as the Golden Knights lead 8-2.
Gannon update 4: Gannon’s Nico Baldelli is now 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs as the Golden Knights lead 9-2.
Final score: Gannon stays alive in PSAC tourney with 9-3 win. Nico Baldelli goes 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs.
AMCC Tournament updates:
Update 1: Mount Aloysius 3, La Roche 0, final
Update 2: Penn State Behrend leads Pitt-Greensburg 2-0 going into the bottom of the third.
Update 3: Behrend leads 9-3 through eight innings against Pitt-Greensburg in AMCC tourney opener. John Hlavinka and Vinny Rice each have 3 of Behrend’s 16 hits. Rice and and Matt Bittner have three RBIs apiece.
Final score: Behrend beats Pitt-Greensburg 9-3 AMCC tourney opener. John Hlavinka and Vinny Rice each had 3 of Behrend’s 16 hits. Rice and and Matt Bittner had three RBIs apiece.
JOHNSTOWN — Brandon Shimo pitched a four-hitter as the Kutztown University baseball team beat Mercyhurst University 6-1 Wednesday in the opening game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament at Point Stadium.
Mercyhurst (30-19) fell into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
The Lakers scored their only run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Anthony Tomasone.
Mercyhurst ace Ben Rawding pitched a complete game but took the loss after allowing six earned runs on 12 hits.
The Lakers will play an elimination game Thursday at 11 a.m. against California.
Gannon (23-17) lost 8-5 to East Stroudsburg (29-11) in a game that was delayed more than 4 hours because of lightning.
Knights ace Shayne Herold (9-1) suffered his first loss as East Stroudsburg’s Chris Knott broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the seventh with a two-out, three-run home run off Herold.
Michael Tomko led the Knights, falling a triple short of the cycle and driving in three runs.
Gannon will face the loser of Thursday morning’s game between Slippery Rock and Millersville at 2 p.m.
Check out a tournament preview from today’s Erie Times-News. To follow the tournament, check out the PSAC website.
Aaron Cox
Shayne Herold
Gannon University’s baseball team had one of its best regular seasons ever, and the Golden Knights were rewarded for their efforts today when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its all-star teams.
Senior pitcher Shayne Herold was named PSAC Western Division pitcher of the year, and pitcher/infielder Aaron Cox was named freshman of the year for Gannon, which tied for the PSAC West title.
Herold also made the PSAC West first team, along with freshman third baseman Jared Wiesen. Second-team honors went to Gannon pitcher Cox, first baseman Jeff Bellanca and outfielder Mike Tomko.
Mercyhurst University, which shared the PSAC West title with Gannon and California, had five honorees. Starting pitcher Ben Rawding made the first team, along with relief pitcher Tanner Delahoy. Second baseman Brendan Cox, shortstop Zak Blair and outfielder Ryan Siegel made the second team.
The PSAC Tournament opens Wednesday in Johnstown.
Most of the area college baseball and softball programs will not open their seasons until March.
The Mercyhurst squads, however, will start this weekend. Of course, the Lakers had to travel south to avoid the harsh winter weather. Both are in a more pleasant North Carolina.
The Mercyhurst softball team opens today, and the baseball teams opens Saturday. Read more about both teams’ openers.
