Pohl listed by SI, drafted by Rays

June 12, 2008 09:09 am

— By ERIC AHLQVIST
Cooperstown Crier

Cooperstown’s Philip Pohl had two days to remember last week. On Thursday, he was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd,” which features high school athletes nationwide who have performed at a high level; and he followed that up by getting drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays on the second day of Major League Baseball’s First Year Player Draft on Friday.

``They were both once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but being drafted trumped being in Sports Illustrated,’’ Pohl said Tuesday.

Pohl, a catcher, is headed to Clemson University on a baseball scholarship in August, and said although it was an honor to be drafted, he plans to play college baseball. ``I had told teams beforehand that my price tag would be pretty high to get me from Clemson, so I figured teams would pass on me,’’ Pohl said.

Pohl was picked in the 44th round of the draft, and was the 1,313th overall selection.

He received a phone call on his cell phone from a Tampa Bay official while on a bus in Washington, D.C during his senior trip Friday. ``Everyone kind of knew what was going on, and stayed quiet while I was on the phone,’’ Pohl said. ``But when I got off and told them it got pretty loud.’’

Pohl said Tampa Bay will send him a contract, which he’ll decline. He can’t be drafted again until after his junior season, and the Rays will have no rights to him after he turns down their contract offer.

In Sports Illustrated, Pohl’s picture was next to his name and a short blurb about his senior season at Cooperstown.

It read: “Pohl, a senior catcher at Cooperstown High, is batting .446 and has four home runs, 23 RBIs and 29 stolen bases; he is Gatorade’s state player of the year. In 2007 he was the Class C player of the year (.473, five HRs, 39 RBIs, 41 steals).”

The magazine also listed a link to a website, Takkle.com/videofaces, where readers could go to watch Pohl’s career highlights.