June 8, 2010
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By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF baseball once again produced at least three draft picks as junior pitcher Owen Dew (Tallahassee, Fla.), senior right fielder Shane Brown (Winter Park, Fla.) and senior left fielder Chris Duffy (Orlando, Fla.) were all selected Tuesday during the MLB Draft. Dew went to the Cleveland Indians in the 21st round, Brown was picked up by the New York Yankees in the 23rd round and Duffy heard his name called by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 26th round.
Rounds 2-30 were conducted Tuesday, as the final 20 rounds will be held on Wednesday.
The Knights have witnessed nine different players be selected in the MLB Draft in the last three years, including Brown who has now been drafted twice by the Yankees. In all, MLB organizations have selected a UCF player 73 times in the draft since 1979.
"I was definitely excited. I was waiting around for a few hours on the edge of my seat waiting for my name to be called with my family. We were all pretty nervous," said Dew. "Once my name was called there were a lot of hugs and my phone wouldn't stop ringing. I give a lot of credit to my coaches for helping to develop me, and any time you move up the draft is a huge accomplishment. It just proves that teams are seeing that you are getting better and hopefully I can keep that going in the minors and all of the way to the show."
"I was excited that any team drafted me. I just wanted to get picked," said Brown. "But the Yankees must have really wanted me if they took me two years in a row, that's really special. I've put in a lot of hard work and I hope things will keep getting better and better. Hopefully as I get into pro ball I will be able to take that opportunity, live my dream and have a lot of fun."
"I'm very happy I got picked and to have the opportunity to play at the next level," said Duffy. "A lot of teams called me and were interested, but the process was a little confusing. The Phillies called me around the 10-12th rounds but they did ask me about my knee injury from four years ago. I told them it was fine, but nothing happened so I was just waiting. Then my name was called and that's all I can ask for. This has been my dream."
Dew climbed 12 rounds to No. 21 after being selected in the 33rd round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander was the only UCF pitcher to start in every weekend series in 2010, leading the Knights with 73.1 innings with 48 strikeouts. Dew, who was in his first season in Black and Gold after transferring from Seminole State College of Florida, posted 11 outings of at least 5.0 innings, including an 8.1-inning victory over Rice April 17.
UCF head coach Terry Rooney has now had 37 pitchers taken in the MLB Draft during his coaching career.
A 47th round pick by the Yankees last season, Brown certainly climbed the draft board to round No. 23 in 2010. An All-Conference First Team outfielder and a Louisville Slugger All-American this year, the Winter Park High School graduate hit .428 as a senior, the fourth-highest average in UCF history. Brown also posted 89 hits, 25 doubles, 10 homers, 58 runs and a .541 on-base percentage.
A former walk-on, Brown posted a .363 career average at the plate, which was the sixth-best ever by a Knight.
And Duffy had a very eventful day. Including being drafted, the senior was named one of five finalists for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Tuesday, which is given out to the top amateur player in the nation.
Duffy was drafted in the ninth round out of Cypress Creek High School, and went on to post 22 homers and a .283 average in three years with the Knights. That was before his senior year, where he shattered the UCF and Conference USA records with a .447 batting average and an .850 slugging percentage this past season. Duffy finished with a school record 21 homers in 2010 and tied Bobby Kiser for the UCF career home run mark with 43.
Similar to Rooney, associate head coach Cliff Godwin (hitting coach) has now had 29 hitters in his coaching career be selected by Major League clubs. Meanwhile, assistant coach Jeff Palumbo has had several players under his tutelage watch as their names have been called, including George Mason's Chris Fournier and Jason Bour along with Brown and Duffy.