COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Three former Tennessee Tech baseball players
continue their baseball careers in the minor leagues, and each of
them put together impressive campaigns in 2009.
Ryan Dennick played a major role for the Golden Eagles in their
path to an Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2009, which drew
the attention of Major League Baseball scouts. A few weeks later
the Kansas City Royals drafted Dennick in the 22nd round of the MLB
draft.
Dennick, a left-handed pitcher who spent most of the season with
the Burlington Royals of the Appalachian League, put up impressive
numbers primarily out of the bullpen in Burlington. In 14
appearances, 13 in relief, Dennick threw 33.1 innings with a 2.43
ERA and a .221 opponents batting average. In that time he struck
out 34 batters while allowing only 11 walks. At the beginning of
September Dennick began a three-game stint with the Idaho Falls
Chukars of the Rookie Pioneer League.
"Strikeout-to-walk ratio is an important statistic that clubs will
look at," Tech baseball coach Matt Bragga said. "Anytime you've got
a 2-to-1 ratio in that category, that's very impressive, so for him
to be over 3-to-1 is fantastic."
Dennick's path to the pro's is somewhat of an unusual one. He began
2009 as Tech's top left-handed reliever. But as the season wore on,
the injury bug took its toll on the Golden Eagles, and Dennick was
put into a starting role. He shined in his new-found role, and
finished the season second on the team in ERA, strikeouts,
opponent's batting average and strikeouts.
"When he was in that role later in the year and excelled, that only
helped his stock," Bragga said. "Being in the NCAA tournament
really helped, and people really got a chance to see him and they
were impressed."
"I went from coming out of the bullpen at Tech, to a starting role,
to winning games in the OVC tournament, to pitching against Clemson
in the NCAA tournament, and now pitching professionally," Dennick
said. "It's been a great ride. Getting paid to play baseball is a
dream come true."
In addition to Dennick, former Golden Eagles Bubbie Buzachero and
Casey Benjamin both had successful seasons in triple-A baseball in
2009, and are one step away from the Major Leagues.
Buzachero, a right-handed pitcher who was born in Livingston,
Tenn., finished the 2009 season with the Las Vegas 51's, an
affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Throughout the course of the
season Buzachero posted a 5-4 record with a 2.49 ERA. He struck out
56 batters and allowed just 14 walks while opponents hit just .184
against him.
Buzachero was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB draft by
Toronto and has been working his way up the minor league baseball
ranks ever since.
Benjamin finished his second season of triple-A baseball with the
Oklahoma City Red Hawks, an affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Benjamin hit .231 in 93 games with the Red Hawks, finishing with 69
hits, including 12 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 32
RBIs.
Benjamin saved his best for last, as he went 4-for-5 in the season
finale against Memphis, and had a home run and three RBIs to cap
Oklahoma City's come-from-behind win.
"It's exciting to have guys in triple-A because they're so close to
the big-leagues," Bragga said. "They're just a trade or an injury
away from getting called up."
With Dennick's signing with the Kansas City Royals, it marks the
third consecutive year a member of the Golden Eagle baseball team
has signed a professional contract. Pitcher Zac Cole signed with
the Baltimore Orioles in 2007 and Jake New signed with the Dodgers
in 2008 before Dennick in 2009.
"We're making it a tradition to send guys to the next level year-in
and year-out," Bragga said. "We expect that to turn into two or
three guys every year at this program. We want every guy in that
locker room to have the dream of playing professional baseball, and
we want them to succeed at the next level."