By Times staff and wire report
Published June 4, 2003
Four Florida State players were taken in the first 10 rounds of the draft Tuesday, and two more were picked during the next five.
After being named a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, junior catcher Tony Richie was drafted in the fourth round by the Cubs. He is hitting .363 with 11 home runs and a team-high 75 RBIs.
Junior rightfielder Blake Balkcom went in the fifth round to Anaheim. Balkcom is hitting .325 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs. Two picks later, junior left-hander Trent Peterson was taken by Oakland. Peterson, who will start Game 1 of the super region, is 10-1 with a 2.68 ERA and a team-high 109 strikeouts.
Senior left-hander Matt Lynch also went to Oakland, being picked in the 10th round. Lynch, 13-3 with a 3.20 ERA, was drafted in the seventh round last year by San Diego but did not sign.
Left-handed pitcher Daniel Davidson, 10-0 with a 2.63 ERA, was picked in the 13th round by Anaheim. Outfielder Tony McQuade, hitting .321 with 13 homers and 56 RBIs, was picked by the Cubs in the 15th round.
FLORIDA: Outfielder Ben Harrison was the first of five Gators selected, taken in the fourth round by Cleveland. Harrison, a junior from Key West, led the Gators with a .362 batting average and had 11 home runs and 61 RBIs.
Sophomore infielder Carl "C.J." Smith, a Jesuit graduate went at No. 165 to Pittsburgh in the sixth round. Smith finished the regular season second in the SEC with 17 home runs, had 60 RBIs and led the team in walks with 36 in 58 games.
Junior third baseman Brett Dowdy, Florida's second-leading hitter (.361), was selected by Los Angeles in the ninth round. Ryan Sadowski, a right-handed pitcher, was a 12th-round pick of San Francisco, and catcher Brian Rose was a 14th-round selection of Arizona. Rose missed the first seven games of the season with an injury then started the remaining games.
Pitcher Justin Hoyman had offers from several teams from the fifth through 12th rounds but wasn't drafted because he wouldn't commit to signing based on the offers.
USF: Three Bulls were chosen on the first day: shortstop Myron Leslie (11th round, Phillies) and right-handed pitchers David Austen (15th round, Angels) and Jon Uhl (19th round, Twins).
Leslie (6-3, 210), a junior from Brandon High, hit .338 with a team-high .476 on-base percentage this season. Uhl (6-2, 190), a junior from Leto, was 6-5 with a 3.89 ERA, and Austen (6-0, 185), a senior, was 11-3 with a 3.45 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 114 innings.
