Royals like Kelley's upside

Scott Kelley hopes to be a Royal pain for opposing hitters.

Kelley, a 2005 Daily Herald all-area baseball pick at Hersey who just finished his four-year career at Penn State, was drafted as a pitcher in the 23rd round by the Kansas City Royals in Wednesday's second day of the Major League Baseball amateur draft. Kelley is the only player with Mid-Suburban League ties taken so far with the first three rounds held Tuesday and rounds 31 through 50 held today.

"I had talked to them three or four times and met with their scout a couple of times so I knew I was on their radar,'' Kelley said. "I really had no idea when I was going to go. It surprised me and it was a good feeling.''

It was easy to see why the 6-foot, 200-pound right-hander ended up on the proverbial radar of a few major-league clubs. Kelley said this spring he was consistently hitting 93 to 95 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.

Kelley's senior numbers weren't off the charts at 4-5 with a 6.03 ERA in 18 games with 42 strikeouts and 33 walks in 592/3 innings. But this year he flip-flopped between starting and relieving during a college career where he bounced between pitching and playing the outfield.

Kelley was strictly a pitcher his first and last year at Penn State. As a sophomore he only played the outfield and late last season started the transition back to pitching with 8 strikeouts in 6 innings.

"Now I can completely focus on pitching alone and I think that's going to be beneficial," said Kelley, who will find out in the next few days where he'll be sent by the Royals.

Left-handed pitcher Ian Krol, who missed his senior season at Neuqua Valley for disciplinary reasons, was taken in the seventh round by Oakland. It was also a big day for the high school alma mater of White Sox slugger Jim Thome as Bartonville Limestone senior outfielder Seth Schwindenhammer (Red Sox) and graduate and University of Illinois shortstop Brandon Wikoff (Astros) were chosen in the fifth round.