Paul F. Davis | Managing Editor
Four Western baseball players, center Jared McDonald and pitchers Alex Roth, Austin Crowson and Koty Fallon, made history on June 3-5 by becoming the largest class of Western baseball players to be signed in a single MLB draft.
Jared McDonald, a senior, was majoring in exercise science and was picked first out of the four. Mcdonald was picked in the 19th round as the 584th pick to the Oakland Athletics. McDonald spent his first two seasons at Grand Canyon University; while at Western, he was given the title of All-GNAC twice, finished his senior season 6th in conference with 54 hits, 4th with 46 runs scored, 5th with 9 home runs, 7th with 39 RBI, 4th in slugging percentage at .611 and finished his time at college tied for third all-time most home runs with 18.
Alex Roth, a junior, was majoring in biology and was drafted in the 21st round as the 634th pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates. During his junior season at Western, Roth became the GNAC Pitcher of the Year and also earned a place on the First Team All-GNAC. Additionally, he became the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Pitcher of the Week and GNAC Pitcher of the Week when he struck out 15 players in seven innings on March 30, 2019 against Saint Martin’s. These 15 strikeouts made history at Western and set the single-game record for most strikeouts, tying the GNAC record with five other pitchers.
Austin Crowson, a junior, was majoring in criminal justice and was drafted in the 39th round as the 1170th pick to the Philadelphia Phillies. Crowson only played for Western for a year and earned First Team All-GNAC honors. Crowson also won National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pitcher of the Week after throwing a no-hitter on April 25 at Concordia. Crowson also threw two additional complete game shutouts.
Koty Fallon, a senior and the only player to spend four years at Western, was majoring in communications and was drafted in the 39th round as the 1170th pick to the San Diego Padres. During his final season at Western, Fallon made 12 appearances and had a team best 0.66 ERA. During these appearances, he struck out 20 in 13 innings and only allowed one run all season.
In the next few months, the four players will find out which development teams they will get sent to. But for now, fans at home are excited to say that this year’s draft team was historic.
Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of WOUWolves
