Arizona's Cole Frenzel is tagged out at third base during a game at ASU in March. Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

Junior pitcher Kyle Simon led five Arizona Wildcats who were selected on the second day of the major league baseball draft.

The Baltimore Orioles selected Simon, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, in the fourth round with the 125th overall selection. He had an 11-3 record and a 2.72 ERA this season.

Bryce Bandilla, a left-handed junior reliever, was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round (147th overall). He was 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 2011.

First baseman Cole Frenzel, a draft-eligible sophomore who hit .346 this season, was taken by the New York Mets in the seventh round (222nd overall)

Infielder Andy Burns, who was not eligible this season following his transfer from Kentucky, went in the 11th round (349th overall) to the Toronto Blue Jays.

And the Atlanta Braves picked up left-handed pitcher Matt Chaffee in the 12th round (386th overall). The team’s closer this season, Chaffee was 6-3 with a 4.85 ERA and seven saves.

Among the Arizona recruiting class, Tayler Scott, a pitcher from Scottsdale Notre Dame, was selected in the fifth round by the Chicago Cubs. He told the Arizona Republic that he will sign a pro contract as he pursues his dream of being the first South African to reach the major leagues.

Kyle Simon

The Arizona baseball team stayed alive in NCAA regional play Saturday behind some hot hitting and the shutout pitching of Kyle Simon.

Simon (11-3) allowed four hits, striking out six and walking one, as the Wildcats defeated Wright State 13-0 in College Station, Texas, in an elimination game

“Kyle did an outstanding job,” coach Andy Lopez said in the postgame press conference (transcript here). “He pretty much has done what weʼve needed in this kind of role all year. … It was good to see us swing the bats. Itʼs good to be alive, baseball-wise.”

Arizona will play the loser of Saturday’s Texas A&M-Seton Hall game Sunday at 10:35 a.m. Tucson time. If UA wins, it would play again Sunday night against the Texas A&M-Seton Hall winner.

If the Wildcats sweep two games Sunday, then a championship game in the double-elimination regional would be held Monday.

Lopez said he would start freshman Konner Wade (2-0, 3.62 ERA) on Sunday morning.

Arizona had 15 hits against Wright State and used a six-run fourth-inning to take a 7-0 lead. Simon pitched his fifth complete game and his first shutout of the season

“He had great movement on his fastball,” said Wright State infielder Sam Picchiotti.

“It really seemed like he was working off of that. Everything in the zone was down. It was tough to pick up both of his off speeds. His slider wasnʼt moving much, but it was tough to pick up and his change-up was a very good pitch.”

Fabbians Ebbele, from Chicago, should be one of the new building blocks for the offensive line/Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

You might not have been able to tell from the kind of vocabulary offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was using during Monday’s practice, but he seems to really like his young offensive linemen.

It’s this group of four true freshmen, combined with three redshirt freshman offensive linemen from the class of 2009, that will be the future foundation of everything the Wildcats want to do on offense.

For now, the true freshmen might give up a speed rush to Brooks Reed coming off the edge in practice. They might not go hard every time from snap to whistle. That’s OK. It’s early. What is encouraging is they look the part.

Mickey Baucus, Fabbians Ebbele, Carter Lees and Trent Spurgeon are part of what appears to be Mike Stoops’ most physically impressive freshman class.

“These guys, there are all in the 6-6 to 6-8 range, and they all have long arms, and they are all 290 to 300 pounds. They’re athletes,” Bedenbaugh, also the co-offensive coordinator, said of his linemen.

“But the biggest thing is, just mentally picking up the game. They’re getting a lot of reps right now, but it’s going to take some time.”

With six seniors and one junior (guard Vaughn Dotsy) in the two-deep, Arizona doesn’t have much margin or error with injuries. The experience drops off quickly. Redshirt freshman Eric Bender-Ramsay is listed as a possible backup at left tackle. Chris Putton is a second-stringer at left guard.

The opportunity could be there for a true freshman.

“We’ve got to have one of them develop in case we get into a situation where we need them,” Bedenbaugh said.

(more…)

Arizona pitcher Kyle Simon has been doing so well in the Cape Cod summer league for college players that when he allowed one earned run in eight innings Thursday night, his ERA went up.

Simon, who had received no run support — none — in his first three starts, got his first victory for the Orleans (Mass.) Firebirds, who defeated the Y-D Red Sox 6-1. Orleans was shut out in his first two starts. In his third start, not only did the Firebirds fail to score, they didn’t get a hit.

Staked to some runs on his side of the scoreboard on Thursday, Simon allowed five hits, striking out four and walking one. His ERA increased from 0.50 to 0.69. He has allowed only 16 hits in 26 innings in the wood-bat league.

As a sophomore at Arizona last season, Simon led the Wildcats in victories (he was 8-6), starts (17) and innings pitched (109 2/3). He had a 4.27 ERA.

Simon’s teammate at Arizona, outfielder Steve Selsky, hit his second home run in 21 games for Orleans. He is hitting .282 this summer.

A pair of Arizona baseball players were on the wrong end of a no-hitter earlier this week in the prestigious Cape Cod League.

Arizona outfielder Steve Selsky and pitcher Kyle Simon — they will be juniors next season — are playing for the Orleans (Mass.) Firebirds. Simon started on Tuesday and did well — allowing three hits and two unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

But the opposing starter, Jordan Pries from Stanford), didn’t allow a hit and walked only three as he led the YD Red Sox to a 2-0 victory. Selsky, batting cleanup, was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

During the 2010 college season, Selsky and the Wildcats had no trouble handling Pries, getting to him for seven hits and six runs in four innings as UA beat the Cardinal 9-8 on May 22.

Good news is that Simon, despite pitching into some bad luck in the summer, is having quite a bit of success against the wood bats of the Cape Cod League. He is 0-2 with a 0.50 ERA in three starts.