5 locals taken on final day

Five more baseball players with local ties were selected on the third and final day of the Major League Draft Thursday. But just as notable, particularly for the fortunes of the UC Irvine program, were those not among the 1,521 players chosen.

Eric Oliver, a former Orange Coast College standout who was a senior first baseman at UC Santa Barbara in 2009, was taken in the 36th round (No. 1,101 overall) by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

UCI junior second baseman Casey Stevenson was the first of three current or future Anteaters taken within 20 picks.

The Milwaukee Brewers made Stevenson the 1,156th player chosen (38th round).

Drew Hillman, a two-time All-American third baseman at Orange Coast College who has signed with UCI, was taken in the 38th round (No. 1,159 overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Brian Hernandez, an infielder who redshirted this season at UCI due to eligibility issues, was chosen in the 39th round (No. 1,175 overall) by the Cleveland Indians.

Orange Coast College sophomore center fielder Mykal Stokes rounded out the locals selected Thursday, going in the 46th round (No. 1,374 overall) to the San Diego Padres.

In all, 15 players with local ties were chosen in the 50-round draft that began Tuesday.

OCC sophomore Tim Wallach tops that class as a third-round choice (96th overall) by the Dodgers.

UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said he had expected Anteaters juniors Christian Bergman, Francis Larson and Eric Pettis to be selected.

Additional UCI players who were eligible but ignored in the draft included senior Eric Deragisch, juniors Kyle Necke, Cory Olson, Jeff Cusick, and Dillon Bell, seniors Brock Bardeen and Tony Asaro, as well as redshirt sophomore Ryan Fisher.

“I tell myself every year that nothing will surprise me in the draft,” said Gillespie, who guided the Anteaters (45-15) to their first Big West Conference championship and the consensus No. 1 national ranking the final three weeks of the regular season. “But I am surprised by this draft ... I’m surprised that so many players went undrafted, or were drafted as low as they were. I am immensely surprised that Larson, Bergman and Pettis were not drafted.”

Pettis, a closer who had 17 saves for a second straight season, was named second-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assn. and chosen third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.