Texas A&M head baseball coach Rob Childress breathed a sigh of relief late Monday night.
The deadline for players to sign professional contracts was at 11 p.m. central time, and Childress, like all college coaches across the nation, had to watch from the sidelines while waiting to see if any of his players or recruits would leave for professional baseball.
Lufkin's Gandy Stubblefield, a big right-handed pitcher who was drafted, never put pen to paper and will likely be a key component in the Aggies' attempt to make it back to the College World Series, a feat they accomplished last season for the first time since 1999.
Junior college transfer Mikey Reynolds, a shortstop from Arizona's Paradise Valley Community College, also was drafted but did not sign.
"There were a lot of baseball coaches that stayed up to midnight eastern time, and I can promise you that some are happy and excited and others are heartbroken," Childress said. "For us we feel very fortunate that Mike Reynolds made it to campus and Gabby Stubblefield from Lufkin."
The Houston Astros selected Stubblefield in the 14th round, while the Orioles picked Reynolds in the 30th round.
A&M pitchers John Stilson and Brandon Parrent, infielder Adam Smith, who was drafted by the New York Yankees as a pitcher, and outfielder Dillon Thomas of Westbury Christian signed professional contracts.
Stilson (5-2, 1.68 ERA) was taken in the third round (108th overall) by the Blue Jays and signed for $500,000 on Saturday. The Colorado Rockies selected Thomas in the fourth round (138th). Smith was taken in the 25th round, and Parrent (2-4, 4.21 ERA) went in the 30th round to the Chicago White Sox.
"There were no surprises," Childress said. "The guys that signed we had strong feeling they were going to sign, and to get Reynolds was huge for us. It was one we didn't have to sweat out down to the final hour. Stubblefield was probably drafted in rounds later and turned down significant money because he wanted to be at Texas A&M."
All-American pitcher Ross Stripling (14-2, 2.29 ERA, three saves) elected to return for his senior season after being drafted in the ninth round by the Rockies.
"It's huge to get Ross back," Childress said. "He's probably our best recruit in this recruiting class. He did it all for us last year and to have him and Michael Wacha back in the front end of our rotation is a pretty good feeling going into any season."
The Aggies also had some recruits that were projected to be drafted -- pitchers Jason Jester and Corey Ray, catcher Cole Lankford, catcher/pitcher Daniel Mengden -- but teams were reluctant to pick them after hearing of their plans to want to play at A&M.
"All in all, I feel very good about the way the draft went for us," Childress said.
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