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3 UH pitchers among 7 with local ties selected on Day 3 of MLB Draft

BRUCE ASATO / MAY 16
UH's Tyler Brashears was 5-2 with a 1.59 ERA in Big West Conference play.

Right-hander Tyler Brashears, one of three Hawaii pitchers picked on Wednesday, was selected in the 14th round (No. 418 overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Teammate L.J. Brewster was the next to go from UH when the Miami Marlins selected him in the 22nd round (No. 656 overall). Left-hander Quintin Torres-Costa was picked in the 35th round (No. 1,051 overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Los Angeles Angels used the final pick of the 23rd round to take Oklahoma State second baseman Tim Arakawa, a 2011 Moanalua alumnus, with the No. 705 overall pick.

Outfielder Jensen Park, a 2011 ‘Iolani graduate who recently completed his senior season at Northern Colorado, was selected in the 32nd round (No. 947 overall) by the Colorado Rockies.

Nevada outfielder Kewby Meyer, who was drafted out of Kamehameha in 2011 but decided to go to college, was selected in the 37th round (No. 1,108 overall) by the Rays.

Recent ‘Iolani graduate Pikai Winchester, who signed with Hawaii, was also taken by the Rays in the 40th round (No. 1,198 overall).

Brashears went 8-5 with a 1.86 ERA in his first season with the Rainbow Warriors after transferring from Saddleback Community College. The Lake Forest, Calif., native became the first UH player named first-team All-Big West Conference since UH joined the league three years ago.

He was the first newcomer to start opening day in 14 years for the Rainbow Warriors and is the highest UH draft pick since Kolten Wong (Round 1), Lenny Linsky (Round 2) and Blair Walters (Round 11) were taken in the 2011 draft.

Brashears struck out 68 in 101 2/3 innings this season. If he chooses to sign, which is likely, he will hold the lowest career ERA in school history for a pitcher with at least 50 innings.

Brewster finished the season 6-5 with a 2.95 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 94 2/3 innings. It was his first season as a full-time starting pitcher after converting from third base.

Like Brashears, Brewster still has a year of college eligibility remaining.

Torres-Costa has two years of eligibility remaining after earning a medical redshirt following Tommy John surgery as a freshman. He was 1-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 2015 but that included three starts. As a closer, Torres-Costa was dominant in Big West play. He didn’t give up a run in 18 1/3 innings and allowed only nine hits with nine walks and 24 strikeouts. For the season, he struck out 49 in 36 innings.

Arakawa recently completed his senior season with the Cowboys in an NCAA regional. He hit .289 with 10 doubles, three triples two homers and stole 10 bases while leading the team with 50 runs scored.

He’s the second Na Menehune alumnus taken in the MLB Draft, joining Stephen Green in 2001. 

Park, who was the Western Athletic Conference player of the year, hit .422 with 11 doubles, three triples, six homers and 34 RBIs for the Bears this season.

He’s the first ‘Iolani alumnus taken since Breland Almadova was picked by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 37th round of the 2012 draft.

Meyer, who was taken in the 48th round in 2011 when the draft lasted 50 rounds, started 55 of 56 games for the Wolf Pack, who finished 41-15. He hit .343 with a team-high 23 doubles, three triples, six homers and 55 RBIs.

Winchester was named to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser all-state first team last month after hitting .455 as a senior with the Raiders.

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