Pittsburgh Pirates 2012 Draft selection bios

Below are bios of Pittsburgh's First-Year Player Draft selections:

1 - Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford University
Has gone 10-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 127 strikeouts so far this year at Stanford ... Hasstruck out at least 10 batters in eight starts ... His 127 strikeouts ranks first among all Pac-12 pitchers ... His 2.27 ERA currently ranks third among Pac-12 starters and his .210batting average against is tops in the conference among starting pitchers ... Was named aFirst-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and also to the First-Team All-Pac-12 ... Was named the 2012 Stanford Regional Most Outstanding Player ... Is also asemifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award ... Is the firstStanford 10-game winner since Jeff Gilmore in 2005 ... Has a career record of 18-9 with a3.10 ERA (267.1ip/92er) and 239 strikeouts in 56 games (35 starts) at Stanford ... Wasrated by Baseball America as having the third-best "Fastball" among college players inthis year's draft.

Supp. - Barrett Barnes, OF, Texas Tech University
Hit .325 (67-for-206) with 17 doubles, six triples, nine home runs, 49 RBI, 53 runs scoredand 19 stolen bases in 55 games this year with Texas Tech ... Was rated by BaseballAmerica as the 21st best position player in the draft and as having the "Best Raw Power"in the Big 12 in 2012 ... Became only the second player in Texas Tech history to bat .300,record 500 at bats, score 150 runs, collect 200 hits, 50 doubles, 30 home runs, 100 RBI,100 walks and 50 stolen bases, joining Texas Tech alum Clint Bryant from 1993-96 ... Ranks fifth in school history in doubles (51), runs (171) and total bases (371), sixthin walks (113), seventh in at bats (637), ninth in home runs (33) and tied for ninth in hits(203) ... Also became the fourth player in school history to earn All-Big 12 honors in threeconsecutive seasons.

2 - Wyatt Mathisen, C, Calallen (TX) High School
Hit .433 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI as a senior ... Was ranked by Baseball America asthe 25th-best position player and 47th-best prospect overall in this year's draft ... As ajunior, was named to the All-State Tournament team, a District 31-4A MVP, a Max PrepAll-American, Perfect Game USA All-American, the South Texas Player-of-the-Yearand was a member of the Texas Rangers Area Code Team.

3 - Jonathan Sandfort, RHP, Winter Springs (FL) High School
Posted an 8-1 record along with a 0.92 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work asa senior this year ... Was named a Rawlings third-team preseason All-American this yearand a Rawlings and Perfect Game preseason Florida Regional High School Senior FirstTeam entering 2012.

4 - Brandon Thomas, OF, Georgia Tech University
Is hitting .360 (76-for-211) with 15 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 44 RBI, 12stolen bases and 57 runs scored as a junior this year at Georgia Tech ... Was a first teamAll-ACC pick, a member of the ACC All-Tournament team and a Capital One AcademicAll-America second team selection this year ... Hit .307 with 12 doubles, two triples, sixhome runs and 29 RBI in 60 games (60 starts) as a sophomore ... Was originally selectedby Colorado in the 37th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

5 - Adrian Sampson, RHP, Bellevue (WA) Comm. College
Was named the Most Valuable Pitcher on his Bellevue Community College team aftergoing 11-0 with a 1.36 ERA (79.1ip/12er) with 107 strikeouts in 13 games (12 starts) thisyear ... Led the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges in strikeouts andwins this year ... Was named the No.1 junior college prospect in the country by PerfectGame and was the starting pitcher in the West Coast Collegiate League All-Star Game in2011 ... Has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Oregon in 2013 ... Wasoriginally selected by Florida in the 16th round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.

6 - Eric Wood, INF, Blinn (TX) College
Hit .318 with 13 doubles, four home runs, 39 RBI and a .425 on-base percentage in 53games this year at Blinn College ... Was originally selected by Oakland in the 37th roundof the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.

7 - Jacob Stallings, C, University of North Carolina
Hit .297 (62-for-209) with 21 doubles, four home runs, 36 RBI and 41 runs scored in 55games as a senior this year at the University of North Carolina ... Earned All-ACCsecond-team honors this season ... Is the first UNC catcher to earn an All-ACC mentionsince Tim Federowicz was named to the second team in 2008 ... His father, Kevin, is the headmen's basketball coach at Vanderbilt University ... Threw out 32 would-be base stealersas a junior, which ranked third in the country among NCAA backstops ... Was alsoselected by Cincinnati in the 42nd round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.

8 - Kevin Ross, INF, Niles West (IL) High School
Was a Rawlings preseason Central All Region first-team selection this year ... Hit .436with four home runs, 30 RBI and 16 stolen bases as a junior at Niles West High School ... Was an all-state and all-conference selection his junior season ... Hit .538 in the AreaCode Games in 2011 and received the New Balance Kevin Youkilis "Heart and Hustle"Award for his Area Code Games performance and was named to the All-Area Code teamat third base ... Played for the Chi-Town Cream summer baseball team in 2010-11 as wellas the White Sox' Area Code team and the Chicago Scouting team ... Posted the highestbatting average for Niles West during his sophomore season.

9 - Douglas Crumlich, INF, Univ. of California - Irvine
Was named a 2011-12 Big West Male Scholar Athlete of the Year ... Was a three-timeBig West Scholar-Athlete ... Voted the 2012 Big West Defensive Player-of-the-Year andwas All-Conference second-team for the second consecutive year ... Ranked second in theconference in assists with 160 and seventh after turning 28 double plays.Led his University of California-Irvine team in hits (72), batting average (.324), runs (39)and doubles (16) ... Ended his collegiate career with a .296 average and ranked fourth inthe UCI records with 139 runs scored and tied for fifth with 45 doubles.

10 - Pat Ludwig, RHP, Yale University
Is the highest selected player at Yale since the Boston Red Sox drafted catcher RyanLavarnway in the sixth round (202nd overall pick) in the 2008 Draft ... Earned All-IvyLeague Second Team honors, went 1-5 in nine starts and shared the team's Ducky PondPitching Award, a career award for pitching excellence and character ... Also led the teamin strikeouts (64), ERA (2.73), and innings pitched (62.2) ... Led all Ivy League pitchersin strikeouts and was third in ERA, third in innings pitched and seventh in opposingbatting average (.256).

11 - Christopher Diaz, INF, North Carolina State University
Hit .356 (90-for-253) with 25 doubles, two triples, one home run, 55 RBI and 54 runsscored in 61 games as a junior this year at NC State ... Earned Louisville Slugger secondteamAll-American honors this year ... Finished second in the ACC in hits (84) and tiedfor sixth in RBI (50) ... Was also an All-ACC first-team selection this year.

12 - Dalton Friend, LHP, Jefferson (MO) College
Went 11-0 with one save, a 2.94 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 46.0 innings this year atJefferson College.

13 - Thomas Harlan, LHP, Fresno State University
Went 7-7 with one save, a 2.78 ERA (106.2ip/33er) and 85 strikeouts in 21 games (16appearances) as a senior this year at Fresno State ... Also took home second-team All-WAC honors in 2012 ... Posted a career record of 14-10 with four saves, a 3.93 ERA and170 strikeouts in 90 games (29 starts) during his collegiate career.

14 - Walker Buehler, RHP, Henry Clay (KY) High School
Was rated by Baseball America as the 50th-best prospect in the draft ... Was named a 2012Rawlings second-team All-American ... Took a 16-12 career record, 2.11 ERA and 234strikeouts into Kentucky's High School Region Tournament.

15 - Jonathan Youngblood, OF, Meridian (MS) Comm. College
Hit .277 with four doubles, one triple, one home run, 19 RBI and a .379 on-basepercentage in 53 games this year ... Tied for 15th in NJCAA Division I with 29 stolenbases ... Recorded a .981 fielding percentage after being charged with two errors thisseason ... Was originally selected by Atlanta in the 30th round of the 2011 First-YearPlayer Draft.

16 - Max Moroff, INF, Trinity Prep (FL) School
Was a 2012 preseason All-Region first-team selection by Rawlings ... Hit .458 with 11doubles, four home runs and 19 stolen bases as a junior at Trinity Prep School and .348with four doubles, one triple and five home runs as a sophomore.

17 - Hayden Hurst, RHP, The Bolles (FL) School
Was named an Under Armour All-American and a Perfect Game Underclass First-TeamAll-American.

18 - John Kuchno, RHP, Ohio State University
Went 8-4 with a 4.38 ERA (74.0ip/36er) and 59 strikeouts in 17 appearances (10 starts)as a sophomore this year at Ohio State ... Posted a 9-8 record and 77 strikeouts in 27appearances (17 starts) at Ohio State.

19 - Michael Peterson, RHP, St. Francis (CA) High School
Went 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA and 16 strikeouts in six appearances (11.2ip) as a senior thisyear at St. Francis High School ... Was named a 2012 Rawlings and Perfect Game USApre-season California Region honorable mention.

20 - Kyle Haynes, RHP, Virginia Commonwealth University
Posted a career record of 13-14 with a 4.34 ERA in 43 games (41 starts) during threeyearcareer at VCU ... Ranks tied for seventh in school history in games started ... Went 4-4 with a 4.45 ERA and a team-leading 15 starts and struck out 73 batters while walkingonly 30 over 93.0 innings as a senior this year ... Finished his junior season 6-7 with a3.36 ERA while recording 57 strikeouts in 80.1 innings pitched ... Was named a 2009Rawlings and Perfect Game USA pre-season Atlantic Region first-team selection.

21 - Jordan Steranka, INF, Penn State University
Ranks second in Penn State history with 292 hits, just three hits shy of the all-timerecord ... Ranks first in program history in at-bats (867) and total bases (471) and doubles(59) as well as second in RBI (183), third in triples (12) and fourth in home runs(32) ... Hit .363 (82-226) with 20 doubles, 11 homers, 40 RBI, a .395 on-base percentageand .615 slugging percentage in 56 games played at PSU this year ... Led the Nittany Lionsquad in batting, doubles, slugging, on-base and total bases (139) ... Has posted a .337career average (292-867) in four years at PSU ... As a junior, finished third in the Big 10with 57 RBI and second in the conference with five triples and fifth with eight homersand a .544 slugging percentage ... Was also selected in the 2011 First-Year-Player draft bythe Houston Astros...Was an All-Big 10 Third-Team in 2009 and All-Rookie teamselection in 2009 ... The Pittsburgh native collected over 100 hits, 16 home runs, 20doubles, 80 RBI and 25 stolen bases at Mt. Lebanon High School and was named to thePittsburgh Post-Gazette's All-Star South Team all three years.

22 - Taylor Hearn, LHP, Royse City (TX) High School
Was a 2012 Rawlings and Perfect Game pre-season Texas All-Region second-teamselection.

23 - Lance Breedlove, RHP, Purdue University
Was named a second-team All-Big Ten starting pitcher in 2012 while also being namedto the Big Ten All-Tournament Team ... Went 8-6 with a 3.33 ERA (97.1ip/36er) in 16starts as a senior this year and 11-7 with a 3.39 ERA in 40 appearances (20 starts) duringtwo-year career at Purdue ... Was named to the initial College Baseball Hall-of-FamePitcher-of-the-Year Award watch list ... Became the first Purdue player to be named BigTen Pitcher-of-the-Week three times in the same season this year.

24 - Tyler Gaffney, OF, Stanford (CA) University
Played both baseball and football at Stanford ... Is hitting .240 (44-for-183) with ninedoubles, one triple, two home runs and 17 RBI in 52 games (47 starts) this year forStanford ... Has a .300 career average (174-for-580) in three-year career with theCardinal ... Played running back for Stanford for each of the last two years, including the2011 Cardinal football team that beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

25 - Josh Smith, LHP Wichita State (KS) University
Went 6-4 with a 3.10 ERA (95.2ip/33er) and 77 strikeouts in 16 starts as a senior thisyear at Wichita State.

26 - Jimmy Rider, INF, Kent State (OH) University
Is a career .334 (338-1013) with 338 hits, 74 doubles, 12 homers and a .401 on-basepercentage at Kent State ... This year he hit .367 (99-270) with 27 doubles, five homers,32 walks and 53 RBI in 61 games at shortstop ... Paced the team in doubles, runs scored(63), hits (99), total bases (143), on-base percentage (.435), plate appearances (311), atbats (270), games and extra-base hits (29) ... His 27 doubles ranked second in all ofNCAA DI baseball ... Was a 2012 team captain and named a 2009 second-team All-MACand All-MAC Tournament Team ... Ranks third on school's career records list with 541assists ... Pittsburgh native ... Played shortstop for Peters Township High School andhelped the Indians to a WPIAL Class AAAA state championship in 2007 ... Named to thePittsburgh Post-Gazette All-Section Team his sophomore and junior high school seasons.

27 - Jake Johansen, RHP, Dallas Baptist (TX) University
Went 3-1 with one save and 40 strikeouts in 20 appearances (four starts) this year atDallas Baptist University.

28 - Tommy Mirabelli, INF, St. Edwards (OH) High School
Is the son of John Mirabelli, who is the Cleveland Indians Vice President of ScoutingOperations ... Hit .509 while helping his team win the Division I state championship inOhio in 2009.

29 - Jake Post, RHP, Chesterton (IN) High School
Went 6-3 with 85 strikeouts in 58 innings as a junior in high school ... Has signed a letterof intent to play baseball at Ohio State University.

30 - Chase McDowell, RHP, Rice (TX) University
Went 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA (10.0ip/5er) in nine appearances (two starts) this year at Rice.

31 - Jack Moffit, RHP, Flower Mound (TX) High School
Was a 2012 Rawlings and Perfect Game pre-season Texas All-Region firstteam ... Committed to Navarro Junior College ... Was 3-0 with a 0.72 ERA in 11appearances and struck out 48 over 39 innings pitched ... Was named a 2012 District 8-5AFirst Team All-District.

32 - Max Rossiter, C, Arizona State University
Hit .326 (45-for-138) with nine doubles, one triple, two home runs, 18 RBI and 22 runsscored as a junior at Arizona State ... Played previous two years at Central ArizonaCollege ... Following the 2010 season was named First-Team All-Region, First-Team All-Conference, ACCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year and was named to the JuCo All-Starteam and NJCAA Team USA ... Was named the 2011 Central Arizona Student Athlete ofthe Year ... Also led Central Arizona to two conference titles and a JuCo World Seriesrunner-up finish.

33 - Carlos Leal, C, East Central (MS) Comm. College
Hit .311 with six doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI in 40 games this year at EastCentral Community College.

34 - Ryan Rand, OF, Langham Creek (TX) High School
Was a second team All-District 17-5A selection at first base after hitting .356 with 26RBI and 23 runs in 2011 ... Was recognized as a Top 500 National Player by PerfectGame USA.

35 - Jackson McClelland, RHP, Redlands E. Valley (CA) HS
Was named a First Team All-Citrus Belt League as a junior in 2011..Finished with anERA of 1.53 and a record of 7-1 during junior season ... Signed a letter of intent to play atPepperdine University.

36 - Brody Russell, INF, Centennial (CA) High School
Hit .358 with 12 home runs, 25 RBI, a .518 on-base percentage and .889 sluggingpercentage as a senior at Centennial High School ... Was the winner of the 2011 NewBalance Kevin Youkilis "Heart and Hustle" Award ... Signed a letter of intent to play atFresno State ... Was a 2011 First-Team All Area and First-Team All-State as ajunior ... Was also named the 2011 Centennial High School and Kern County MostOutstanding Player ... Played in the 2011 Area Code Games.

37 - Jacob Waguespack, RHP, Dutchtown (LA) High School
Signed letter of intent to play baseball at Ole Miss ... Was a Rawlings and Perfect Game2012 pre-season Southeast All-Region Second Team selection ... Recorded an 8-0 recordas a junior with a 1.83 ERA in 55.1 innings of work with 73 strikeouts ... Tossed acomplete game two-hitter and struck out 12 in the 5A regional playoffs last month.

38 - Matthew Pope, RHP, Science Hill (TN) High School
Signed a letter of intent with Kentucky University ... Was named a 2012 Al-Big 8Conference Baseball Team honorable mention ... Was also named a 2012 National Top500 Prospect by Baseball America.

39 - Jared West, LHP, North DeSoto (LA) High School
Led his team to their first ever trip to the LHSAA/State Farm Baseball State Tournamentinto spot in the Class 3A state championship game ... Is a University of Houstonsignee ... Was a 2010 and 2011 Under Class High Honorable Mention.

40 - Zarley Zalewski, INF, Valley (PA) High School
Hit .574 with a WPIAL-best eight home runs and 36 RBI this season ... Was named theWPIAL Baseball Coaches Association Class AAA Player-of-the-Year in 2012... Hassigned a letter of intent to play at Kent State.