Sooner Athletic Conference

Avista NAIA World Series MVP Will Stramp Drafted by Cincinnati Reds

Posted by Chris Due - Thu, Jun 11, 2009 - [ Baseball ] - Viewed 279 times

Will Stramp Led the NAIA in Hitting with a .498 Batting Average

LUBBOCK, Texas (June 11, 2009) - The 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft came to an end Thursday with Will Stramp serving as the lone member of the NAIA National Champion Lubbock Christian University baseball team selected by a major league club. Will Stramp was selected in the 33rd round (989th selection) by the Cincinnati Reds.

Stramp is a First Team NAIA All-American and was the Avista NAIA World Series Most Valuable Player. The Keller, Texas native batted a remarkable .498 on the season and was held without a hit in only four games on the season. He produced 39 multi-hit games and had a 23-game hit streak during the season. Stramp led the NAIA in batting, hits (111), total bases (225), hits per game (1.9), runs scored per game (1.6) and total bases per game (3.9). His 111 hits, 27 home runs (third in NAIA), 225 total bases and 1.009 slugging percentage led the Chaps (second in NAIA), while his six triples and 99 runs-batted-in co-led the team. At the Avista NAIA World Series, Stramp batted .429 with 12 hits (led tournament), three home runs and 10 runs-batted-in (led tournament). He produced seven home runs in ten postseason games, which included 21 RBI. Stramp leaves LCU with a .462 career batting average, which ranks second all-time in program history.

The Reds drafted Stramp as a third baseman and he was the Reds top third base selection. Stramp primarily played left field this past season for the Chaps and spent the 2008 as the Chaps everyday third baseman. He is the 30th player drafted in program history and the sixth under head coach Nathan Blackwood. As for a connection with LCU and the Reds, Stramp is the fifth player from Lubbock Christian selected by the Reds, following Gene Taylor (1991), Tim Belk (1992), Chris Ward (1996) and Paco Escamilla (1999). Belk is one of six players to make it to the big leagues after a career at Lubbock Christian. Stramp was not the only Lubbock based player selected by the Reds in this season's draft. Texas Tech's Chris Richburg was also chosen by the Reds. Stramp was also one of six Sooner Athletic Conference players selected in this season's draft.

Last season, three Chaps were selected and one signed as a free agent. Buck Britton (Baltimore Orioles), Chris Holguin (Toronto Blue Jays) and Gary Poynter (San Diego Padres) were each drafted. Jarred Bogany signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a free agent. The three draftees are each in extended spring training. Britton had received a call-up to Double-A Bowie earlier in the season and appeared in one game. Bogany is in Single-A Quad Cities and is on an offensive roll. He is second on the River Bandits squad in hitting (.345) and is batting .486 (18-for-37) over the last ten games.