June 7, 2005

New York, N.Y. - Stanford Baseball players John Mayberry, Jr., Jed Lowrie and Mark Romanczuk have been selected early on the first day of the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday. Mayberry, a junior first baseman from Kansas City, Mo., was chosen as a rightfielder by the Texas Rangers in the first round with the 19th selection overall. Lowrie, a junior second baseman from Salem, Ore., was taken by the Boston Red Sox as a Compensation A choice between the first and second rounds with the 45th pick overall. Romanczuk, a junior lefthanded pitcher from Newark, Del., was picked in the fourth round (111th overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Stanford has now had 17 players in the past 19 years of the draft taken in either the first round or as a Compensation A pick.

John Mayberry, Jr. was selected by the Texas Rangers in the first round (19th overall) of the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday

Mayberry was selected in the first round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft for the second time in his career. In 2002, the Seattle Mariners made him the 28th overall pick but he became the highest selection not to sign a professional baseball contract that year when he chose to attend Stanford. He hit .303 with eight homers and 53 RBI as a junior first baseman in 2005 for Stanford to earn All-Pac-10 honors for the second consecutive season. Mayberry started all 59 games and played every inning at first base for the Cardinal, who advanced to the NCAA Baseball Waco Regional championship game on Monday (June 6) before falling to host Baylor, 4-3 in 12 innings. Mayberry added 18 doubles and 72 hits, while scoring 36 runs, walking 28 times and stealing five bases. He led the team with 24 multiple-hit games and was second behind Lowrie with 15 multiple-hit contests. Defensively, he made just two errors in 561 defensive chances for a .996 fielding percentage.

Mayberry has a .312 lifetime average, 28 homers, 148 RBI and 19 stolen bases in three seasons at Stanford (2003-05). He put up his biggest numbers during his sophomore campaign with a .333 batting average, 16 homers, 62 RBI and nine stolen bases. Mayberry was selected as a First Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball and the National Baseball Writers Association in 2005, as well as a Second Team selection of Baseball America. In 2004, Mayberry was a Baseball America Midseason All-American, as well as a Second Team Preseason All-American pick by the publication. He earned Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball as a rookie in 2003 when he hit .299 with four homers, 33 RBI and five stolen bases.

"I'm very excited to have been drafted by a great organization with the history that the Texas Rangers do and a very nice ballpark," said Mayberry.

Lowrie, who was drafted for the first time in his career, has earned First Team All-American and All-Pac-10 honors in each of the past two seasons (2004, '05). He led Stanford with 14 homers and 66 RBI in 2005, while hitting .317. The junior second baseman also paced the 2005 Cardinal in slugging percentage (.594), on-base percentage (.416), walks (41), sacrifice flies (10), total bases (133) and multiple-RBI games (19). Lowrie started all 59 games at second base for the Cardinal, adding 71 hits, 47 runs scored, 16 doubles, two triples and five stolen bases. He made just six errors in 295 defensive chances for a .980 fielding mark. Lowrie also earned the first Pac-10 Player of the Week honor of his career on April 5.

Jed Lowrie was selected by the Boston Red Sox as a Compensation A pick (45th overall) in the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday

Lowrie boasts a .338 career batting average in three seasons at Stanford (2003-05), while hitting 31 homers, driving in 162 runs and stealing 16 bases. He earned Pac-10 Player of the Year honors in 2004 when he won the Pac-10's triple crown with a .399 batting average, 17 homers and 68 RBI, ranking ninth on Stanford's all-time single-season batting average list and tied for 10th in single-season runs (72). Three publications (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly) selected Lowrie as a First Team All-American in 2004, while the American Baseball Coaches Association and College Baseball Insider.com slotted him as a Second Team All-American, while the NCBWA had him as a Third Team pick. Lowrie has won numerous other honors during his collegiate career, including three First Team Preseason All-American selections in 2005 (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA) and a Second Team Midseason All-American honor by Baseball America. As a sophomore in 2004, Lowrie was Baseball America's "Best Player" and an All-American in a 2004 Midseason Report. He was also a national semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy awarded annually to the nation's top collegiate player in 2004. In addition, he spent the entire 2004 season on the Watch List for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award but was not selected as one of five finalists. He has started 148 consecutive games for the Cardinal at second base.

"I'm really excited to have been chosen by the Red Sox," said Lowrie. "This is an exciting time for me to be drafted by a first-class organization."

Romanczuk was drafted for the second time in his career (the Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected him in the 5th round out of high school in 2002). The two-time All-Pac-10 selection (2003, '04) has a 28-11 career record to rank tied for sixth on Stanford's all-time victory list and a 4.18 ERA in three seasons on The Farm (2003-05), striking out 257 batters in 329.1 innings that rank him eighth on Stanford's all-time list in the latter category. Romanczuk was 12-2 with a 4.01 ERA and two saves at Stanford as a freshman when he won his first 12 collegiate decisions and tossed a career-high 112.1 innings in the first of three seasons in which he threw 100 or more frames. He came back with an 11-3 mark and a 4.31 ERA as a sophomore with 94 strikeouts in 108.2 innings. In his junior, he was 5-6 with a 4.24 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 108.1 frames.

Mark Romanczuk was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday

Romanczuk has racked up the honors in his three seasons at Stanford beginning with his incredible rookie season in 2003 when he was named one of four National Freshmen of the Year by Collegiate Baseball. He also earned the first of his two All-Pac-10 honors as a freshman, as well as Freshman All-American recognition (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball) and honorable mention All-American honors. As a sophomore in 2004, he earned Third Team All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball, as well as his second consecutive All-Pac-10 recognition and also made his first appearance on the Roger Clemens Award Watch List for the honor nominating collegiate baseball's top pitcher. In addition, he was a Baseball America Midseason Sophomore All-American, as well as a Third Team Preseason All-American by the publication. He added honorable preseason All-American honors by College Baseball Insider.com and also excelled in the classroom where he earned the first of two Pac-10 All-Academic selections (also in 2005). Romanczuk was a Second Team Preseason All-American (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA) as a junior in 2005. He has also won six Pac-10 Player of the Week honors in his first three seasons at Stanford (three as a freshman, two as a sophomore, one as a junior).

"I have an opportunity to pursue my dreams, which is to play Major League Baseball, so this is obviously a very exciting time for me," said Romanczuk. "It's also gratifying to know that I was selected in the fourth round, didn't lose any ground from being selected in the fifth round out of high school, and was able to have a wonderful experience at Stanford. As for the Diamondbacks, they are a great organization to get involved with now, and I think I will have the opportunity to advance quickly, which is something I'm really excited about."

All three players spent the summer of 2004 on the Team USA roster with Romanczuk also spending 2003 with the national team.

The 2005 MLB First-Year Player Draft will conclude with its second and final day on Wednesday, June 8.