Phillies begin Day 3 draft selections

The third day of baseball's draft got off to a big start for the Phillies.

With their pick in Round 16, the selected 6-7 righthander Nicholas Hanson from Golden West, a junior college in his hometown of Huntington Beach, Calif.

Hanson went 5-5 in 14 starts this season with a 4.70 ERA. He allowed 82 hits in 82.1 innings with 55 strikeouts and 13 walks.

At pick No. 548 in Round 17, the Phillies selected David Hill, a righthander from El Modena (Calif.) High. The 6-2 Hill is a Long Beach State signee.

In the 18th round, the Phillies chose righthander Tony Blanford from Boulder Creek High in Phoenix. He has signed with Arizona State.

In Round, 19, the Phillies went with a position player, selecting Arkansas shortstop Tim Carver at No. 608. He hit .338 this season with two home runs and 22 RBI. He also had 11 doubles.

The Phillies chose junior righthander Matthew Sisto from the University of Hawaii in the 20th round. He is 6-5 and went 8-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 14 starts for the Rainbows. He allowed 94 hits in 91 innings with 11 walks and 45 strikeouts.

At Round 21, they chose high school righthander Andrew Anderson from Galena High in Reno, Nev.

At No. 698 in Round 22, the Phillies chose Jeb Stefan, a 6-4 righthander from Lousiana Tech. Stefan struggled a bit as a senior with a 2-7 record and a 4.89 ERA. He allowed 86 hits in 84.2 innings with 40 walks and 81 strikeouts.

They stayed on the mound in Round 23 with righthander Geoff Broussard from Cal Poly Pomona.

In Round 24, the Phillies added 23-year-old catcher Chad Carman from Oklahoma City University.

The Phillies added lefthander Brennan Henry from Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., in Round 25. Henry is 6-4.

At pick No. 818 in Round 26, the choice was 17-year-old second baseman Evan Van Hoosier from Green Valley High in Nevada.

In Round 27, the Phillies drafted Canadian lefthander Fernando Fernandez-Beltran from Edouard Montpetit HS in Longueuil, Quebec.

The Phillies returned to the college ranks in Round 28 with Virginia Tech 6-4 lefthander Joseph Mantiply. He went 5-6 this season with a 3.53 ERA. He allowed 84 hits in 81.2 innings pitched with 19 walks and 52 strikeouts.

In Round 29, the Phils picked Brad Wieck, a 6-9 lefthander from Phillips College in Texas. He went 6-2 with a 4.59 ERA in 12 appearances.

The Phillies closed out Round 30 with righthander Jordan Kipper from Central Arizona College. He went 9-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 14 appearances with 64 strikeouts in 87.1 innings.

In Round 31, they selected junior righthandr Chris Nichols from the University of Soiux Falls in South Dakota. Nichols followed a 5-2 sophomore season with a 1-3, 7.71 junior year. He made 14 appearances with three starts and also had two saves.

With pick No. 998, the Phillies selected Clemson junior righthanded reliever Scott Firth. He was 4-0 this season with a 2.09 ERA in 24 relief appearances with three saves.

At No. 1,028, in Round 33, the selection was 6-6 righthander Kyle Cody from McDonell Central Catholic in Wisconsin.

In Round 34, Darrell Miller Jr., a catcher from Servite High in Anaheim, Calif. was the choice. Miller is a UCLA signee. His father played for the Angels and is now the vice president of Youth and Facility Development for Major League Baseball.

At No. 1,088 in Round 35, the Phillies selected righthander Steven Wilson from Dakota Ridge High in Littleton, Colo.

The Phillies went back to catching in Round 36 with Charles Galiano, a high school prospect from Commack High on Long Island. Galiano from Dix Hills, N.Y., is a Fordham signee.

In Round 37, the Phillies chose 6-3 righthander Daniel Starwalt from Granite Hills, Calif. He is a Stanford signee.

The Phils added first baseman Geordy Smith from Highlands Ranch High in Colorado in Round 38. Smith comes from one of the top prep programs in the state.

In Round 39, the Phillies selected righthander Austin Norris from Trenton High in Missouri. Norris has committed to play at Metropolitian Junior College in Kansas City.

In the final pick of the draft, the Phillies chose Eric Hanhold, a 6-4 righthander from East Lake High in Florida.

Several local players were selected Wednesday as well. Temple third baseman Steven Nikorak was chosen by the Chicago White in Rounds 32 with pick No. 981.

"This is just unbelievable," Nikorak said. "I have been waiting for this since I started playing baseball as a kid and I am just so blessed to share this moment with my family. I can't wait to see what the Chicago White Sox have planned for me. They are a first-class organization and I am just extremely thrilled to be a part of it."

Germantown Academy graduate Tommy Coyle (2B, North Carolina) was taken in the 16th round by the Rays; Neumann-Goretti product Mark Donato (1B, Indian River JC in Florida) was chosen in the 26th round by the Royals; and Malvern Prep graduate Chris Cowell (C, Richmond) was taken in the 34th round by Colorado.

The draft continues Wednesday with Rounds 16 to 40. The Phillies have the final selection in each round.

The Phillies selected college players with nine of their final 12 selections through the first two days. That mirrored a trend throughout the draft with high school players taken early, but college players dominating the draft by the end of Day 2. In all 272 players from four-year colleges were slected thus far, compared to 166 high schoolers and 48 from junior college.

Southern Illinois first baseman Chris Serritella, who was selected by the Phillies with the 158th pick overall, had dinner with a Phillies representative to work out a contract hours after his selection Tuesday. Serritella will pass up his senior year to sign.

"I didn't think I was on their radar until I got a call from a scout last night, which kind of shocked me," Serritella told the Southern Illinoisan. "I'm just glad they gave me an opportunity."

A third-team All-American as a senior, he left the Missouri Valley Conference with a .389 batting average and tied for the conference lead with 13 home runs. He also led the league in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, doubles and total bases.

Coach Ken Henderson said Serritella ended up in the right spot with the Phillies. He became the highest-drafted Southern Illinois player since Milwaukee selected righthander Cody Adams in Round 2 in 2008.

"He was drafted in the fourth round, and that's about where we had him pegged, so, I'm really happy for him and I think he's in a great situation," Henderson said. "They've been a successful program for a long time."