Three outstanding Hamilton County baseball players got their call to the pro leagues this week.
Tyler Schweitzer, a 2019 Hamilton Southeastern graduate, recent Westfield graduate Gage Stanifer and 2019 University graduate Reese Sharp were all selected in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft, which took place Monday through Wednesday. Schweitzer went in the fifth round as the 161st pick by the Chicago White Sox, Stanifer was drafted in the 19th round by the Toronto Blue Jays as the 578th pick, while Sharp was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 20th round as the 587th pick.
Schweitzer was a member of the Royals’ 2019 Class 4A state championship team and has been playing for Ball State University. He had an outstanding junior season for the Cardinals in 2022, posting an 11-2 record. Schweitzer’s highlights include a pair of one-hitters, first on April 29 against Central Michigan, then again on May 25 against Ohio University.
Schweitzer also had two double-digit strikeout games during the season, tossing 12 on April 16 against Akron for his season high. He also struck out 11 March 28 at Western Michigan. Overall, Schweitzer threw 112 strikeouts for the season and compiled a 2.65 ERA.
Stanifer, a Hamilton County Reporter Player of the Year, was 5-2 for the Shamrocks during his senior season. He threw 83 strikeouts over 38 innings, allowing just 10 hits and 32 walks. He gave up 16 runs, four earned for a 0.74 earned-run average. Stanifer has committed to play at the University of Cincinnati this coming school year.
Stanifer is the fifth Westfield player in program history to be selected in the MLB Draft. He follows Kyle Kramp (2009, San Francisco Giants), Kevin Plawecki (2012, New York Mets, now playing for the Boston Red Sox) Ryan Pepiot (2019, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Harrison Freed (2019, San Francisco Giants).
Sharp, who helped the Trailblazers to a Class 1A state championship in 2019, just finished his redshirt sophomore season with Indiana University. Sharp threw 76 strikeouts over 54-2/3 innings, making appearances in 23 games.
In addition, Sharp has played in summer leagues over the past two years, making appearances in five games for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League this season. In those five games, Sharp has thrown 11 strikeouts in 8-1/3 innings. In 2021, he competed for the Winnipesaukee Muskrats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, winning two of three starts, tossing 27 strikeouts over 20-1/3 innings.