44 NAIA COLLEGE BASEBALL PLAYERS TAKEN IN 2012 MAJOR LEAGUE DRAFT

 It’s once again time for Balladeer’s Blog’s annual ritual of listing NAIA college baseball players taken in the MLB draft. The Fresno Pacific University Sunbirds (logo at left) are among the teams who had players drafted.

An added perk (?) of being covered here is the assignment of Official Balladeer’s Blog Nicknames, the kind of nicknames nobody has ever used for these players (or will again) to the best of my knowledge. THE BEST IS THE LAST ON THE LIST

LEE UNIVERSITY FLAMES – Kris “Kids In The” Hall – to the A’s  ***  Patrick “Machine Gun” Merkling – to the Marlins  ***  “Volatile” Vincent Spilker – to the Diamondbacks  ***  Andy “Whatchoo Talkin’ ‘Bout” Hillis – to the Cardinals  ***  Jorge “The Blue Jay” Saez – to the Blue Jays

OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY STARS – Dane “The Screwdriver” Phillips – to the Padres  ***  “Fillibuster” Blake Schwarz – to the Nationals  ***  “Manta” Miguel Beltran – to the Rays  ***  Chad “Bizet’s” Carman – to the Phillies  ***

FRESNO PACIFIC UNIVERSITY SUNBIRDS – Michael “Teenage Caveman” Vaughn – to the Marlins  ***  “Smart” Alec Mehrten – to the Rockies  ***

ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM – Keith “The Rattler” Glenn – to the Diamondbacks  ***  Zachary “Seagull” Livingston – to the Angels

SOUTHERN POLYTECHNIC RUNNIN’ HORNETS – Joseph “Flivver” Shiver – to the Rangers  *** Matt “The Bad MK” Kimbrel – to the Braves

AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY COUGARS – Jordan “River” Leyland – to the Blue Jays  ***  Alan “The Artful Dodger” Garcia – to the Dodgers

TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLEGE BULLDOGS (NAIA World Series Champs) – Jeremy “Edmund” Fitzgerald – to the Braves  ***  Levi “Lean, Mean” Dean – to the Mariners

ST THOMAS (FL) BOBCATS – Dane “Flint” Stone – to the Marlins  ***  Joel”Cold Blooded” Capote – to the Angels

LEWIS- CLARK STATE WARRIORS – Austin “Powers” Pentecost – to the Cubs  ***  Luke “Badgion” Goodgion – to the Rays

EMBRY- RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY EAGLES – Adam “Associated Press” Paulencu – to the Rockies  ***  “Boltin’ “Benjamin Kline – to the Rays

BRITISH COLUMBIA THUNDERBIRDS – David “I’m Otterman” Otterman – to the Brewers  ***  “Buster” Keaton Briscoe – to the Red Sox 

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA- BEAUFORT SAND SHARKS – Michael “Sheesh” Heesch – to the Cubs

POINT LOMA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY SEA LIONS – “Tricky” Ricky Gingras – to the Astros

COLLEGE OF IDAHO COYOTES – Izaac ” With a Z” Garsez – to the Cubs 

AUBURN UNIVERSITY- MONTGOMERY SENATORS – Cory “Sid” McGinnis – to the White Sox

ROGERS STATE UNIVERSITY HILLCATS – “Fancy Pants” Lance Rymel – to the Cubs

BETHANY COLLEGE SWEDES – Jose “Swede” Sermo – to the Brewers

MAYVILLE STATE COMETS – “Slick” Nick Anderson – to the Brewers

SHORTER UNIVERSITY HAWKS – Ryan “Registered Nuke” Newell – to the Marlins

INDIANA TECH WARRIORS – Brandon “Horatio” Alger – to the Padres

THE MASTER’S MUSTANGS – Charles “Chucky G” Gillies – to the Tigers

CUMBERLAND UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS – “Not That” Michael Smith – to the Marlins

BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS – Gary “Emergency” Ward – to the Mets

FAULKNER EAGLES – Corey “Jacktar” Black – to the Yankees

UNION (KY) BULLDOGS – Chris “Art” Fern – to the Giants

TEXAS WESLEYAN RAMS – “Morning Glory” Cory Bafidis – to the Nationals

CAL STATE SAN MARCOS COUGARS – Anthony “Tough Tony” Renteria – to the Padres   

MORNINGSIDE MUSTANGS – Storm “Who Needs A Nickname When Your Real Name Is This Cool” Throne – to the White Sox