Prep star slips to 41st round

Adam Candee

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 | 8:59 a.m.

LOCAL DRAFT PICKS

Local players selected on the final day of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft, rounds 19 through 50:

Bryce Massanari found 1,231 reasons to call off the celebration Tuesday after two numbing days of hopelessly willing the phone to ring while following the Major League Baseball entry draft on his computer.

That's how many players were drafted ahead of Massanari, a catcher from Centennial High who expected to hear his name called as high as the third round and certainly within the first 10 rounds.

Those rounds came and went, as did the whole first day and most of the second, and Massanari waited until the 41st round when Philadelphia finally picked him.

"I was going to have a draft party and I can't," Massanari said.

The punch is still chilling in many valley homes because Massanari is the only local high school player to be drafted this year. A total of 16 players with local ties were chosen, mostly right around where they expected to be drafted.

"I was as shocked as anybody," Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone said of Massanari's fall.

Representatives from the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins all told him to expect a first-day pick. Massanari can find little reason for his slide, except for a nasty rumor circulating that he would ask for big money if picked in a high round.

"I never said that -- ever," Massanari said. "I really did want to just go play."

Instead of the minor leagues, Massanari will now play college baseball. He signed with UNLV before batting .496 with 48 RBIs as a senior season, but is considering going to junior college so he can be drafted again sooner. Players who attend four-year universities cannot be drafted until after their junior season, but junior college players can be picked in both of their two years in school.

That all seems like the distant future to Massanari, who barely found the desire to attend his graduation Monday night. The letdown is still wearing off, though Massanari sounds ready to tackle his underdog status.

"I'm always the one not getting picked for all-stars and getting cut," Massanari said.

The list of high school seniors passed over is highlighted by Cimarron-Memorial's Jorge Esquivel, Green Valley's Brian Sizemore, and Centennial's J.C. Leach and Andy Primas.

After two Community College of Southern Nevada players were drafted on Day 1, four more were picked Tuesday. At the top of the group is left-hander Ryan Tabor, a Green Valley High graduate tabbed in the 24th round by the Yankees. Drafted in the 46th round by the Phillies last year, Tabor jumped up the board after going 5-3 with a 2.84 ERA and 56 strikeouts for the Coyotes.

Outfielder Mike Dunn, a Cimarron-Memorial graduate, went in the 33rd round, also to the Yankees. That is a big drop for Dunn, a 14th-round choice of the Houston Astros in 2003. The Astros tabbed Bishop Gorman graduate Chris Siewert, a shortstop, in the 45th round and the Arizona Diamondbacks chose Silverado graduate Ryan Castellanos, a third baseman, in the 46th round.

Three more UNLV players were chosen Tuesday, bringing the Rebels' two-day total to seven. Leading the local draft board on day two was Ryan Ruiz, a senior second baseman from Silverado. Oakland grabbed Ruiz in the 19th round, even though he missed a month because of injury this year.

Cimarron-Memorial grad David Seccombe was the 29th-round choice of the Boston Red Sox after a senior year at UNLV in which he was 9-3with 90 strikeouts. Right-hander Matt Minor rounded out Tuesday's picks, selected in the 47th round by the San Francisco Giants.