PBR Ohio's Top Stories For The Year 2014. 26 Ohio Players Selected In The 2014 MLB Draft

December 29, 2014

By Dylan Hefflinger and PBR Staff
Ohio Editor in Chief/NW Scout

Top 12 Stories for The Year 2014

PBR Ohio started up on May 3rd, 2011 as seen here. From that day, Chris Valentine has had a goal to promote high school baseball in Ohio at the highest level possible. Chris has been able to do this thanks to the help of parents, coaches, and the talented players throughout the state of Ohio.

Chris has also built a staff that has the drive to make Ohio one of, if not the top viewed website for Prep Baseball Report as well as put on some of the best showcases in the nation to help promote the high school talent that resides in the Buckeye State.

Dylan Hefflinger, PBR Ohio Editor in Chief/NW Scout, along with JD Heilmann, PBR Ohio Director Scouting take a look back at the year in review and put together a list of the top stories for 2014.

To start off the countdown, we chose a piece that touches JD, the Midland Baseball Organization, and the city of Cincinnati at heart, as one of the most well respected men in all of baseball passed away this year.

To follow that up we looked at "The Recruiting Trail" which updates where all the prospects across the state have been visiting, who they are getting attention from, and who they have committed to.

After that we looked at the "Cam Varga Experience" as well as a story about Adam no longer being a "One-Man Wolfpack".

Then we took an in-depth look at a heartfelt story of losing a brother and a great young man.

Now we look at the players from Ohio who were drafted in the 2014 MLB draft.

Each day we will reveal the next story on the list. A hint for the next story are the words "Spiky Hair".

A rundown of the stories: Note: We will be conducting a Twitter contest to vote on the top 12 stories for 2014 once the 12 stories have been posted.

Ohio Players Selected In The 2014 MLB Draft

In total, 26 players with Ohio roots were selected in the 2014 MLB draft.

There were 19 players selected from respected universities from around the nation along with seven players selected out of high school.

Indiana catcher and Middletown native Kyle Schwarber stole the early headlines as the Chicago Cubs called his name with the fourth pick in the first round. This made Kyle one of the highest drafted players from Ohio in the history of the MLB draft. The highest selected player from Ohio in the history of the MLB draft is Ken Griffey Jr. who was selected 1st overall in the 1987 draft out of Cincinnati Moeller High School.

The highest player selected out of high school was Cameron Varga, who was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays with the 60th overall pick in the second round. To read more about Varga, please click here.

During rounds 3 through 25, 15 collegiate players with Ohio roots were selected. The list was highlighted by Austin Cousino, an University of Kentucky centerfielder and Dublin Coffman graduate, who was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the third round with the 80th overall selection.

Rounds 26 through 40 were highlighted by six high school selections from across the state with three of those players having participated in the Super 60 this past February.

Most notably, Lake RHP Jayce Vancena, a University of Michigan recruit, was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 26th round with the 786th overall selection. The big-right handed pitcher became the hottest name in Ohio this spring with a string of impressive performances and continued development on the mound.

The other two draftees who participated in the Super 60 were Cody Callaway and Riley Mahan. Calloway was drafted in the 34th round by the Cleveland Indians and Mahan was selected in the 40th round by the San Fransisco Giants. Callaway is now at BGSU while Mahan is at the University of Kentucky.

The other three high school players who were selected have elected to head to college. Jacob Niggemeyer (Ohio State), Peter Dolan (Michigan), and Caleb Ferguson (West Virginia).

Two notable names that were hot prospects coming into the MLB draft after strong spring and summer seasons were Zach Willeman and Zack Shannon, each of which can pump their fastballs in the low-90s.

Napoleon RHP Zach Willeman is now at Kent State University while Anderson RHP/1B Zack Shannon, who originally committed to Ohio State and has since committed to Chipola CC in Florida. Both went undrafted but will definitely be names to watch down the road.

From all of us at Prep Baseball Report we wish each of the draftees the best on their climb to the majors. We also wish the best to all the athletes heading to college.

To view the full list of players drafted please take a look below.

RD	PICK	NAME	SCHOOL	P	B/T	CLASS
1	4	Schwarber, Kyle	Indiana (IN)	C	L/R	JR
2	60	Varga, Cameron	CHCA	RHP	R/R	HS
3	80	Cousino, Austin	Kentucky (KY)	CF	L/L	JR
6	181	Scott, Tanner	Howard College (TX)	LHP	R/L	J2
6	190	Kivett, Ross	Kansas State (KS)	CF	R/R	SR
8	246	Swanson, Erik	Iowa Western CC (IA)	RHP	R/R	J2
9	258	Clark, Brian	Kent State (OH)	LHP	R/L	JR
10	305	Varner, Seth	Miami University (OH)	LHP	L/L	SR
12	348	Walsh, Connor	Cincinnati (OH)	RHP	L/R	SO
14	432	Schroeder, Casey	Polk State College (FL)	C	R/R	J2
15	461	Dorsch, Eric	Kent State (OH)	RHP	R/R	SR
16	489	Ahart, Devan	Akron (OH)	CF	L/R	JR
18	534	Isaacs, Dusty	Georgia Tech (GA)	RHP	R/R	SR
20	603	Pollock, Kyle	Evansville (IN)	C	R/R	JR
22	652	Powers, Ryan	Miami University (OH)	RHP	R/R	JR
25	741	Nittoli, Vinny	Xavier (OH)	RHP	R/R	5S
25	744	Winemiller, Rob	Case Western Reserve	RHP	R/R	JR
26	786	Vancena, Jayce	Lake HS (OH)	RHP	R/R	HS
28	829	Niggemeyer, Jacob	Olentangy Liberty HS (OH)	RHP	R/R	HS
29	857	Greve, Greg	Ohio State (OH)	RHP	R/R	SR
30	901	Burke, Mike	University of Buffalo (NY)	RHP	R/R	SR
31	936	Fasola, John	Kent State (OH)	RHP	R/R	SR
33	998	Dolan, Peter	Gilmour Academy (OH)	3B	R/R	HS
34	1028	Calloway, Cody	Midview HS (OH)	3B	R/R	HS
38	1149	Ferguson, Caleb	West Jefferson HS (OH)	LHP	R/L	HS
40	1198	Mahan, Riley	Moeller HS (OH)	SS	L/R	HS