PU making major moves

Former Tigers get call-ups

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   If there were any doubts as to the talent level of Princeton University’s Ivy League championship baseball teams, there isn’t anymore.
   Three members from those teams were active in the major leagues Wednesday, two with the same organization.
   Will Venable, a 2005 PU graduate, was called to the majors Friday to join 2002 PU graduate Chris Young on the San Diego Padres. Ross Ohlendorf, a 2006 Princeton graduate, made his first major league start on the mound for Pittsburgh and got a no decision while allowing four runs in six innings in the Pirates’ 6-5 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday.
   It confirms what PU baseball coach Scott Bradley knew all along. He has had some great Tigers teams.
   ”Even though he didn’t play, Tim Lahey was with the Phillies the first week and a half so we’ve had four in the majors this year,” Bradley said. “There are three guys that played together on the 2003 and 2004 championship teams that were all on big league rosters this year. That doesn’t include (B.J.) Szymanski and (Thomas) Pauly. And Erik Stiller continues to move up. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the big leagues. That’s six legitimate major league prospects off one Ivy League team.”
   Since 2000, Princeton has won five Ivy League championships. They won in 2000 and 2001, again in 2003 and 2004 and then in 2006.
   How good was the 2004 team that included Lahey, Venable, Ohlendorf and Szymanski? Good enough to ring up 11 hits and 10 runs in five innings against Justin Verlander of Old Dominion in the Tigers’ season opener. Verlander went on to become the second pick overall in the major league draft and eventually American League Rookie of the Year. Princeton good enough to have five players selected in the draft that year.
   ”We had a lot of teams that we played against, that point blank would say, you guys are really good,” Bradley said. “Eddie Blankmeyer, the St. John’s coach, said, I watched your guys take batting practice and you guys belong in the ACC. We had a sense that year that there were stretches where we were that sort of team. We swept Old Dominion and they pitched Justin Verlander. We rose to the point where we could play at that level. We were kind of bored when we got in the league. We wrapped up our half so quickly.
   ”I could be at Princeton for a long time and not see that again. We were a big, strong, athletic team in those years. They were some unique teams in the Ivy League, for sure.”
   Bradley knew then that he had something special. The players themselves were special.
   ”There’s a definite common thing among those guys. It’s called talent,” Bradley said. “You look at those guys, Venable is as good an athlete there is with his instincts. His dad was a very good baseball player for a lot of years, and I believe in bloodlines. I think it took Coach Lloyd Brewer and I watching Will take 20 swings to see how good he was. Chris’ make-up is off the charts. Ohlendorf, he throws 96-97 miles per hour. That’s talent. Stiller took a while physically to get where he needed to, but he’s (throwing) 92. Lahey is a convert. In Timmy’s case, we told him early on, at some point if he was going to make a career in baseball, it was going to be on the mound.”
   Now three are trying to stay on in the majors. Young, the veteran of the group with four seasons in the majors, was activated from the 15-day disabled list Monday and allowed four runs in a 5-2 loss to Los Angeles as he dropped to 4-4 while battling injuries all season.
   Venable joined him on the Padres and was in the starting lineup Friday after being called up to replace injured outfielder Scott Hairston. Venable debuted with a triple in his first at bat and scored a run. He is just the second Padre ever to triple in his major league debut. He was 2-for-4 and scored the winning run in the ninth inning in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Colorado as he upped his average to .333 through his first three games while batting sixth for San Diego.
   Less than a week later, Ohlendorf returned to the majors. He began the year with the New York Yankees before a trade sent him to Pittsburgh. After remaining in Triple-A while working back from being a reliever with the Yankees into a starting pitcher for the Pirates, he was called up to start Wednesday. Bradley was happy to see both get their chance in the majors this year.
   ”Venable has talent and competitiveness,” he said. “Ohlendorf has one of the better arms in baseball. He’s in the mid to upper 90s. I like him better as a starter. It gives him a chance to establish his second and third pitch more, and not worry that he’s going to give up a hit on his second or third pitch to the second batter he faces. I think Ross is better suited to have four days to be prepared to pitch. I think he’s in a good spot.”
   Bradley is confident that they won’t be the only former Tigers to reach the highest level of baseball. Pauly is battling back from injuries that kept him out of baseball for the better part of the last two seasons. Szymanski was in Triple-A Louisville to start the year before dropping to Double-A Chattanooga in the Cincinnati organization. They could give Princeton an even larger cut of major league players, something that would be all the more tempting for Bradley to see in person.
   ”I was in San Diego last week,” Bradley said. “I had to do some recruiting, but I took my family so it was a combination of work and vacation. I got a chance to go to San Diego and see Chris. I’d like to go out there, but it’d be tough with my three kids. If Chris and Ross were pitching against each other and Will was playing, it’d be tough not to have someone go out and at least take some pictures.”
   Someday, that photo might be worth something.