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Trojans boast seven draftees

The spotlight was on St. Petersburg College the second day of the draft.

The Trojans, who won the Suncoast Conference regular-season title and advanced to the state tournament for the sixth year in a row, had seven players drafted, including five on Day 2.

Drafted were Mike White, Christopher Kroski, Roberto Martinez, Ryan Anderson, Jonathan Shapland, Bobby Wilson and Bryan Banks.

St. Petersburg College also had two Pinellas County signees who were drafted, Dunedin's Brian Dopirak and Clearwater Central Catholic's Shawn Williams.

DEAD BATTERY: Bobby Wilson, a catcher, and T.J. Large, a right-handed pitcher, were teammates on Seminole High's 2001 team that went undefeated and won state and national titles.

Both were picked by the Giants last June (Large in the ninth round and Wilson in the 26th) and were among six Warhawks selected in last year's draft, which tied a record for players drafted from the same high school in one year.

But instead of continuing their career with the same organization and perhaps one day being reunited as battery mates, Wilson and Large decided to attend junior college this season and were drafted again Wednesday.

This time, it was not by the same team.

Large was taken in the 32nd round by the Diamondbacks and Wilson in the 49th by the Angels.

QUICK WORK: The Angels signed their top draft pick, Virginia Tech left-hander Joe Saunders. Terms were not announced.

"I was expecting a long, drawn-out ordeal," Saunders said. "But it wasn't like that, it went so smoothly."

Saunders, the 12th pick overall, was 9-2 as a junior with a 2.86 ERA this season.

He was an All-Big East Conference selection and led the conference in strikeouts with 102 in 972/3 innings. His three-year record with the Hokies was 27-7. He will be assigned to Provo of the rookie level Pioneer League.

The Rockies signed their first pick, left-hander Jeff Francis of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Terms weren't announced.

Francis, the ninth overall pick, was one of two Canadians drafted in the first round with high school left-hander Adam Loewen, a draft first. Francis was 7-2 with a 1.93 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 75 innings as a junior.

ANOTHER FIRST: High school teammates went within the first 15 picks for the first time.

To hear the pitchers' coach tell it, the Mets landed the better of the two with the 15th pick.

"Both are fantastic," said Brent McDonald, coach at Cypress Falls High School in suburban Houston, "but if we went to a Game 7 of the World Series of high school baseball and both were ready to go, the ball goes to Scott Kazmir (taken by the Mets). Our No. 1 pitcher was Kazmir; our No. 2 was Clint Everts."

Everts went to the Expos with the fifth pick.

COINCIDENCE?: Bruce Bochy, Ron Gardenhire and Jerry Manuel might be managing their sons someday.

The Padres drafted pitcher Greg Bochy, son of manager Bruce, in the 36th round. The Twins took shortstop Toby Gardenhire, son of manager Ron, in the 38th. The White Sox drafted second baseman Anthony Manuel, son of manager Jerry, in the 48th.

"I'm happy for Greg," Bruce Bochy said. "I think he's going to be very appreciative of it. It's something to be very proud of."

Bochy, 22, was picked out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. The Padres drafted him out of high school in 1997, but he chose college.

Gardenhire, 19, plays for Westark Community College in Arkansas.

"He's earned the right to be drafted," Twins scouting director Mike Radcliff said. "It's not just because Ron's our manager. He has tools."

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