18 I Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010
Pirates’ top two picks enjoy time at State
By Jake Kaplan
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Just days removed from signing
their first professional contracts,
the top two Pittsburgh Pirates’
selections in the 2010 draft have
already been deemed the top
prospects in the entire organiza
tion by Baseball America.
And they are getting their first
exposure to professional baseball
in none other than State College.
Jameson Taillon, the No. 2 over
all pick in this June’s Major
League Baseball Amateur Draft,
and Stetson Allie, the Pirates’ sec
ond-round selection (52nd over
all), arrived at Medlar Field at
Lubrano Park late last week to
work out with the Spikes for the
remainder of the season.
Though Taillon and Allie will not
pitch in actual games for State
College, they will work out with
the pitching staff as an orientation
to professional baseball.
The highly touted pitching duo
inked their first professional con
tracts shortly before the Aug. 16
deadline.
Pirates President Frank
Coonelly said the team decided to
send the two right-handed pitch
ers to State College, the club’s
short-season Class A affiliate, in
part because the major league
Former Lion slugger finding success in minor leagues
Asit Mishra/Cotlegian
Ben Heath bats during Penn
State's game against Kent State
last season. Heath now calls the
Lexington Legends, a Houston
Astros affiliate, home.
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club’s pitching coordinator, Jim
Benedict, was in town.
“It was a great opportunity to
bring these two players down, get
them acclimated to a professional
setting and work with Jim
Benedict for the four days that
he’s here,” Coonelly said during
Friday night’s Spikes’ game.
Taillon, a recent graduate of
The Woodlands High School out
side of Houston, Texas, said Neal
Huntington, the Pirates G.M.,
informed him of the club’s plan to
send him and Allie to State
College right after he signed. It
was an idea Taillon, a 6-foot-6
right-hander, said he was in favor
of.
“We’re doing everything [the
rest of the Spikes pitchers] are
doing for right now,” Taillon said.
“We’re doing everything a little
lighter, taking kind of a step back,
just to get our feet wet is the way
they put it.”
He did admit, however, that he
would rather be pitching in
games, something he hasn’t done
since his high school playoffs in
May, when he concluded a superb
senior season. Taillon posted a 8-1
record and a 1.78 ERA, striking
out 114 batters in 62 innings.
Allie, who was ranked the
eighth-best prospect in the coun
try entering the draft by Baseball
By Ryan Loy
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Ben Heath may look back and
remember 2010 as the year he
crossed off several goals for his
baseball career.
The Huntersville, N.C., native
started the year preparing for his
junior season as catcher for Penn
State after seeing limited time in
his first two years with the Nittany
Lions.
Now, after a breakout spring
with the Lions, he is playing near
ly every day as a member of the
Lexington Legends, a Class A
affiliate of the Houston Astros.
Heath said he is happy to be in
the position he’s in, considering
it’s tough to predict how a baseball
career will unfold.
“It’s kind of hard to imagine
what’s going to happen in a whole
year, but for me, [getting to this
point] was definitely a goal,”
Heath said.
“I wanted to get the opportunity,
but you can never imagine all of
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America, also had an excellent
senior campaign. He went 9-1 with
a 1.29 ERA and helped St. Edward
High School win the Ohio Division
I state title.
Taillon thinks the stay in State
College, though only a couple of
weeks, will benefit him and Allie.
He said the Spikes, many of whom
are only one or two years older
than Taillon and Allie, have
already taken them under their
wing.
Allie, a 19-year-old, echoed simi
lar sentiments.
“It’s pretty easy playing with
kids my age. They’re just as
immature or mature as me,” Allie
joked. “It’s pretty great.”
Spikes G.M. Jason Dambach
said he is flattered the Pirates
sent the young hurlers to State
College, and he thinks the experi
ence will be beneficial.
“It’s a nice, healthy environ
ment, lots of fans in the stands,”
Dambach said. “You’re going to
have some road trips that are
going to get you in at 4 or 5 o’clock
in the morning. So I think all of
that is positive.”
The two have not been told
where they will start next season,
though Taillon said he would be
“all for” starting his career in
State College next June.
The two will take part in fall
this was going to happen.”
On June 8, the Astros selected
Heath in the fifth round of the
MLB First-Year Player Draft with
the 153rd overall pick.
That was thanks in large part to
his junior season, one of the best
statistical years in Penn State’s
history. He hit for a .369 batting
average and belted a single
season, school-record 19 home
runs.
The former Lion began his pro
fessional career with the Tri-City
Valley Cats before being promoted
to the Single-A Lexington
Legends.
The call-up came at an interest
ing time for Heath, who was set to
begin a series against the State
College Spikes at Medlar Field at
Lubrano Park, his home collegiate
stadium.
“To play there again would have
been fun, but it was just one of
those things that wasn’t meant to
be,” Heath said.
“I was excited to get the call-up,
but it was bittersweet because
Mark Olson/Courtesy Art
Stetson Allie (left) and Jameson Taillon (right) sit In the dugout as
members of the State College Spikes. The duo was drafted by the
Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2010 draft and recently signed contracts.
instructional league, and Taillon move me,” Taillon said, “but I
said his goal is to rise through the know my performance will help
minor leagues and make it to the that, too.”
majors by the time he is 21.
“It’s all up to them and how they To e-mail reporter: jyksl42@psu.edu
there were a lot of people I know
that would have been there."
The former Lion said there’s
always nervousness when a play
er advances to another level
because it’s tough to tell how a
player will stack up with the talent
at a higher level.
So far, Heath is matching up
well with his competition. In 11
games with Lexington, he is bat
ting .300 a .52-point increase
from his average with Tri-City.
In only his fifth game with
Lexington, Heath hit three home
runs and drove in seven runs.
That display of power played a
large part in the former Lion
being named South Atlantic
League Player of the Week on
Aug. 16.
“We have had some tremen
dous individual performances this
year,” Lexington General
Manager Andy Shea said in a
press release.
“Heath’s three-home run game
was incredible."
Heath said he enjoyed that
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night, but he knows he cannot
dwell on the success of the past.
“Those games don’t come along
very often, and I might never do it
again,” Heath said. “It was a fun
night, but you have to get up and
play the next day and put it behind
you.”
Off the field, Heath said he’s
enjoying the experiences that
come with playing in the minor
leagues.
The catcher said it’s an unbe
lievable experience traveling with
the team and running into guys
from high school and college who
he hasn’t seen for a long time.
Though the road to the major
leagues is a tough one. Heath is
ready to take on the challenges
and continue to improve.
“This is just the beginning for
me,” Heath said. “I haven’t even
played a full season. I’ll be going to
instructional league in the fall, and
hopefully I’ll have a good first full
season next year.”
To e-mail reporter: rmlsl3B@psu.edu
Collegian Photo/Mike Ghourdjian
Sent. 1
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