Out of the 1,216 players taken in this year’s MLB First-Year Player Draft, 20 were drafted from Division-III colleges, which is the highest total since 2010.  Two Baseball Factory alumni were drafted from D-III colleges: Stephen Ridings from Haverford College and Marc Iseneker from St. John Fisher.

Stephen Ridings – Haverford College – RHP – Chicago Cubs – 8th round – 254 overall

Baseball Factory coaches saw Ridings at a 2012 College PREP in Hightstown, NJ and a 2012 Team One Northeast Showcase. The Commack, NY, native from St. Anthony’s High School was 6-6, 190 when he attended those events.

Over his three years at Haverford, Ridings grew two inches and gained 30 pounds. When our coach saw Ridings, he was 82-84 mph with his fastball. According to Kevin McCarthy of Scout.com, Ridings was mid-80s with his fastball in his first two seasons, before leaping into the 90s and even touching 96 this past season.

Not many would have predicted after Ridings’ first two seasons that the right-hander would be one of the best pitchers in the Centennial Conference, nonetheless drafted by a major league team.

Ridings recorded 30.1 innings in his first two seasons as a reliever for the Fords. He had a 4.91 ERA his freshman year and a 4.19 ERA in his sophomore season while walking nearly just as many batters as he struck out in those two seasons.

His junior season, though, was a different story. Ridings posted a 2.62 ERA in 65.1 innings with a 6-3 record for the Centennial Conference champions. The gangling righty struck out nearly 12 batters-per-9 while holding opponent hitters to an anemic .163 batting average.

In conference-play, Ridings pitched to a 1.32 ERA, holding batters to a .128 batting average, as he allowed only 14 hits in his 34 conference innings. Ridings punched-out double digit batters in four of his 11 starts, two of which came in the postseason. The best pitching performance for Ridings came on April 16 against Centennial Conference foe McDaniel. The junior threw a nine-inning, complete game shut-out, allowing only four baserunners (1H, 3BB) while striking out 11.

Marc Iseneker – St. John Fisher College – RHP – Texas Rangers – 28th round – 849 overall

Baseball Factory coaches saw Iseneker at a 2012 National Tryout in Troy (Albany), NY.

The 6-2, 200 sidearmer enjoyed success for one of the top D-III programs in the country in St. John Fisher. The Cardinals won their conference and region, advancing to the eight-team D-III College World Series. In 195 career innings for the Cardinals, Iseneker posted an 18-7 record and a 2.35 ERA with 184 strikeouts.

Iseneker’s best performance this past season came on March 26 against Elmira. The right-hander threw a nine-inning no-hitter, walking only one batter and punching out 11.