FOX11AZ.COM

June 8 ,2007

Indiana high schooler Arizona's first draft pick

By ANDREW BAGNATO

PHOENIX (AP) -- Jarrod Parker has always dreamed of pitching in the major leagues.

He hopes to win a state baseball title first.

The Diamondbacks' top pick in Thursday's draft - and ninth overall - is pitching in the Indiana class 3A semifinals Saturday, and his season may not end until June 16. After that, he'll begin negotiations with the Diamondbacks.

"I'm real excited," Parker said in a conference call with Arizona reporters. "That's always been what I've wanted to do. But first I've got to finish my high school season."

The 18-year-old righthander went 10-0 with a 0.13 ERA and 101 strikeouts for unbeaten Norwell High School in Bluffton, Ind. Parker's team is 32-0.

"It's been a pretty easy high school season," Parker said. "Obviously, once the competition gets a little tougher I'll have to pitch a little more and not just rely on my fastball."

His fastball has been clocked as high as 98 mph.

Parker, who stands 6-feet-2 and 175 pounds, was part of the U.S. team that won the silver medal at last year's world junior championships in Cuba. He was Indiana's player of the year and is a finalist for the Gatorade national player of the year.

"He obviously has a very gifted right arm and even a more gifted mind," said Diamondbacks scouting director Tom Allison, who conducted his first draft for the team. "He's a very intelligent, athletic and very strong character kid, which are all things we look for. We're very excited to get him into the fold."

The Diamondbacks have had a scout at each of Parker's 10 starts this season, so it wasn't a great surprise when they selected him.

"As we spoke to him today, we said, 'Listen, go out and win a state championship,' " Allison said. "Enjoy that time and we'll begin negotiations after that, get you into an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform."

The Diamondbacks have become accustomed to difficult negotiations. Last week, they signed their top 2006 pick, right-hander Max Scherzer, minutes before they would have lost his rights. Scherzer is represented by Scott Boras, who also represented first-round pick Stephen Drew when his negotiations with the Diamondbacks went down to the wire two years ago.

After loading up on position players in recent years, the Diamondbacks took pitchers with four of their first six picks.

"Did we target (pitching)?" Allison said. "No, but we're very happy that it fell to us."

Arizona's next two selections were sandwich picks between the first and second rounds.

Arizona selected Mississippi State catcher Edward Easley 61st overall. Easley, 21, is hitting .367 and leads the Bulldogs with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs as they prepare to face Clemson in an NCAA super regional.

The Diamondbacks picked right-hander Barry Enright of Pepperdine in the second round, 73rd overall.

They chose Puerto Rican shortstop Reynaldo Navarro in the third round, 103rd overall, and took right-hander Sean Morgan of Tulane in the fourth round, 133rd overall.

Arizona took center fielder Tyrell Worthington of Winterville, N.C. in the fifth round, 163rd overall.