By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune SPorts Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
FOR the second consecutive year, a pitcher was added to the list of Bahamian baseball talent selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Chavez Fernander was selected by the Detroit Tigers organisation yesterday, in the 35th round with the 1,035th overall pick.
A right-handed pitcher at 6'3" and 205 pounds, he has been reported to have a 95mph fastball.
Fernander, a Grand Bahama native, recently completed his sophomore season with the Polk Community College Eagles in the NJCAA.
He was also the second Bahamian pitcher selected from the Eagles roster in as many years after the Colorado Rockies selected Shemiko Smith last year.
In 17 appearances with nine starts, Fernander posted an 8-4 win-loss record with 63 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.09 in 58.1 innings.
He earned a first team All-Conference honour in the Suncoast Conference of the FCSAA and was one of six Polk State players to have received 2018 Suncoast Conference recognition.
Smith made his debut on January 26 to lead the Eagles to a 7-6 win over Lake-Sumter State College.
He posted a season-high seven strikeouts on two occasions. The first was on February 21 in a 5-2 win over Webber International JV and again in a 16-0 win over Florida Southern College JV on February 28.
His longest appearance of the season was April 11 against St Petersburg College when he recorded five strikeouts and pitched seven scoreless innings in a 10-0 win.
Fernander's wins were ranked sixth in the conference and he previously committed to join the Novas Southeastern Sharks following his stint with Polk State.
For the season, Eagles pitchers led the FCSAA in strikeouts (479) and ranked third in innings pitched (449.2), third in home runs allowed (20), and sixth in ERA (3.88).
After winning four consecutive Suncoast Conference championships, the Eagles (29-23) finished third this season with a 16-14 record in conference play.
At the high school level, Fernander attended Baseball Academy of Hope (formerly Faith Baptist Christian School), alongside several other Bahamian players including Smith, Chavez Young - currently in the Toronto Blue Jays organisation and Arthur Rolle - recently committed to Georgia State after two years at the JuCo level with Allen Community College.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID