Baseball: La Salle's Cody Weiss Drafted by Seattle in 14th Round
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The La Salle baseball team was one of the best in the area in 2011, and the big reason why was their pitching. The Explorers' success on the mound didn't go unnoticed by pro scouts, as righthander Cody Weiss has been selected by Seattle in the 14th round of this week's MLB Draft.
"It's pretty exciting," he tells KYW Newsradio. "It's one of those moments where you are just speechless."
Weiss won seven games during his La Salle career, striking out 133 batters in 158⅓ innings. Where is he, "stuff"wise, at this point in his career?
"What I bring to the table is a 90-95 mile an hour fastball, which is obviously why I got drafted. I show signs of having pretty good offspeed (pitches). It's not exactly there yet -- I still have to work on that a lot," he says.
Listen to Matt Leon's full interview with Cody Weiss in this CBS Philly SportsPod…
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Weiss was mentored this season by first-year Explorers' pitching coach and former big leaguer Bob File. Weiss, an Orefield, (Lehigh County), Pa. native, says File's presence made a big difference.
"He actually helped me tremendously this year. He actually taught me a splitter/slider within six months. I'd been trying to learn that for years. I'm still working on it, nothing's ever perfect. But he was a tremendous help."
Weiss is the first Explorer drafted since the Mets took TJ Chism back in 2009. He is also the second-highest draftee to wear an Explorers uniform: only Fred Morris, taken in the 11th round back in 1977 by Houston, was drafted higher.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060
