June 10, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame seniors Sam Elam and Jeremy Barnes were each selected on the second day of the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Elam was selected in the eighth round, pick #255 overall, by the New York Yankees. Barnes was then pegged in the 11th round, pick #347 overall, by the Philadelphia Phillies. Elam and Barnes, along with first round pick A.J. Pollock, give the Irish three picks in the draft’s first 11 rounds for the first time since 2004 – when Notre Dame had four players chosen in the first 10 rounds.
“As great as yesterday was with A.J. Pollock being a first round draft pick, today might have even been better,” said head coach Dave Schrage. “Sam and Jeremy not only leave our program with a degree from as fine an institution as there is in the country, but also a chance to play professional baseball. I’m not sure a coach could ever wish for more for a departing senior.”
“It was crazy,” said Barnes. “I was working a camp with my high school coach and, literally, I must have gotten 10-15 text messages simultaneously. They all said basically the same thing, but it wasn’t until Coach Schrage called that I actually found out what round and what team selected me. The Phillies actually called my parents’ house looking for me to let me know.
“Obviously, it’s such a cool deal. You dream as a kid to one day get a chance to play professional baseball and for that day to finally arrive is pretty special. I’m excited for what the future holds.”
“My phone seemed to be working all day, right up until the eighth round,” said Elam. “My advisor had tried to reach me two or three times during the initial picks of the round, but it kept going straight to voicemail. It figures… I don’t get service right around the time I being drafted by the New York Yankees. It’s pretty hilarious when you think about it.
“I’m not sure I could be happier. I’m going to arguably the most famous franchise in all of professional sports. It has been quite a ride for me, but I’m not sure it could have worked out better.”
Elam (Mesquite, Texas) returned to Notre Dame for his senior season after being drafted in the 23rd round of the 2008 draft by the Colorado Rockies. The southpaw went 1-1 with a 5.74 earned run average in 11 appearances this past spring. Elam allowed 25 hits and struck out 38 in 31.1 innings of work. Opponents batted just .219 against Elam. He made two starts for Notre Dame in 2009, including a nine-strikeout effort against archrival Michigan. Elam picked up his first career victory against USF on May 9. He tossed 4.2 scoreless innings of relief to help the Irish rally from a 6-0 deficit. Elam allowed just a pair of hits and punched out four.
Elam pitched in 36 career games for the Irish, including nine starts. He might be most remembered for his near no-hitter against Purdue on April 18, 2007. Elam took a no-no into the eighth inning (two outs), but settled for a one hit, nine-strikeout performance over 9.0 innings before Notre Dame earned a 1-0 walk-off victory in the 10th inning. For his career, Elam yielded just 48 hits in 76.1 innings of work as foes batted only .181. He also recorded 84 career strikeouts. Elam finished his Notre Dame career as the all-time leader in fewest hits allowed per nine innings pitched (5.66) and fifth in most strikeouts per nine innings pitched (9.90).
Year ERA W-L G-GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR BF B/Avg WP HBP2006 2.19 0-0 11-0 0 0/1 0 12.1 8 4 3 6 19 1 0 0 54 .178 0 32007 4.55 0-2 13-7 0 0/1 1 31.2 15 17 16 25 25 0 0 0 138 .146 5 72008 18.00 0-0 1-0 0 0/0 0 1.0 0 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 7 .000 4 02009 5.74 1-1 11-2 0 0/0 0 31.1 25 24 20 29 38 5 0 0 152 .219 7 7TOTAL 4.83 1-3 36-9 0 0/2 1 76.1 48 47 41 64 84 6 0 0 351 .181 16 17
Barnes (Garland, Texas) quite simply had one of the top offensive seasons in Notre Dame history in 2009. The shortstop played and started all 59 games for the Irish and batted .353 with 15 home runs and 70 RBI. Barnes led the Irish in triples (5, tied), homers, RBI, total bases (152), slugging percentage (.655) and walks (35). A two-time all-BIG EAST selection (second team in both 2006 and 2009), Barnes was one of two players in the conference (Pollock being the other) with 15 or more doubles, five or more triples and 10 or more home runs. He also was one of six players in all of college baseball with five or more triples and 15 or more home runs.
Barnes finished the BIG EAST regular season ranked third in triples and fifth in RBI. In only league games, he also ranked tied for second in total bases, second in RBI, tied for fifth in triples, fifth in assists, sixth in slugging, sixth in at bats and sixth in home runs. Barnes also ranked among the top 10 in the Notre Dame single-season annuls in total bases (sixth), home runs (seventh) and RBI (tied eighth).
Barnes’ four-year career numbers, include a .305 batting average (261-for-856), 160 runs scored, 49 doubles, 14 triples, 26 home runs, 197 RBI, 416 total bases, .486 slugging percentage, 113 walks, 10 hit by pitch, 119 strikeouts, .388 on-base percentage, 10 sacrifice flies, 10 sacrifice hits, 24-36 stolen bases, 393 putouts, 556 assists and 42 errors. He ranks tied for third all-time in triples, fourth in at bats, fifth in RBI, seventh in fielding assists, eighth in games started, ninth in games played, 10th in hits, tied for 10th in walks and 12th in doubles.
Year Avg GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO OB% SF SH SB-ATT PO A E FLD%2006 .294 58-55 231 40 68 11 6 2 49 97 .420 29 5 38 .381 3 2 9-14 88 102 7 .9642007 .258 56-54 194 27 50 8 2 1 28 65 .335 20 1 22 .329 1 4 8-8 118 131 14 .9472008 .307 55-53 199 40 61 15 1 8 50 102 .513 29 2 25 .395 3 4 3-6 86 153 6 .9762009 .353 59-59 232 53 82 15 5 15 70 152 .655 35 2 34 .438 3 0 4-8 101 170 15 .948TOTAL .305 228-221 856 160 261 49 14 26 197 416 .486 113 10 119 .388 10 10 24-36 393 556 42 .958
The three-day draft continues on Thursday. Check back to www.und.com for further draft updates.
— ND —