June 8, 2011
BEAUMONT - Lamar University baseball coach Jim Gilligan continues to produce quality pitchers as evidenced by Wednesday's selections of senior hurlers Stephen Tromblee and Blake Ford in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Tromblee, who spent just one season with Lamar after transferring from Centenary, was a 35th round selection by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Ford was a 44th round pick by the Houston Astros after completing his three-year Lamar career.
"I'm so happy for both of them that they have this chance to continue their playing careers," Gilligan said. "This is a great opportunity, and I think they both have a chance to be successful in professional baseball."
A native of Alleyton, Texas, Tromblee is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound left hander. He appeared in a team-high 21 games this season, posting a 3-3 record with a 3.10 earned run average. His best outing was a complete game 3-2 victory at Stephen F. Austin that helped the Cardinals earn a berth into the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament.
"We wouldn't have made the conference tournament without his outing against SFA," Gilligan said. "He was a kid who made a transition from being a bulldog that tried to ram his fastball by you to learning how to pitch. He has a really good slider and that made his fastball even better."
Against the Lumberjacks, Tromblee scattered eight hits over nine innings while striking out five. The win secured the seventh seed for the Cardinals in the SLC Tournament. He worked 52.1 innings on the year, striking out 38 and walking just 14.
"Tromblee is very competitive and a great kid," added Gilligan. "We'll be out looking for another one of him, because he's just what you want on your team."
Ford spent the season as the Cardinals' ace, finishing with a 6-4 record and 3.42 ERA en route to being named third-team All-SLC. The 6-foot-5 right hander from Lufkin worked 102.2 innings for the Cardinals with 78 strikeouts, four complete games and one shutout.
"It's been a real process for him to turn into not only the pitcher he is, but the man he is," said Gilligan. "He's grown up a lot on the mound and I think he really accepted the role of ace especially after the injuries to Eric Harrington and Jonathan Dziedzic."
Ford, who was named SLC Pitcher of the Week on Apr. 11, gave the Cards an outstanding opportunity to open the SLC Tournament with a win over SFA. He allowed just two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings of work before being pulled. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Lumberjacks.
Ford's best outing came at home in a 1-0 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as he held the Islanders to just six hits over nine innings of work. He struck out nine and walked only one in the contest.
Ford's father Rusty played professionally in the San Diego Padres' organization, including a stop with the Double-A Beaumont Golden Gators back in the early 1980s.
"It's in the genes with Blake because of his father," Gilligan said. "It seems like it was just five years ago that Rusty was playing in Beaumont and I was working with the Gators, but now it's his son who is graduating from our program."
Lamar has had at least one player chosen in nine of the last 10 amateur drafts with seven selected in 2004. Former pitching star Brian Sanches is the highest drafted LU player ever as a second round selection in 1999 by Kansas City, and is one of 11 former Cardinals to make it to the Major Leagues.
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