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Former MCC pitcher drafted by A's
A player 13 months removed from the McCook Community College baseball program, became a professional ball player this week. The Oakland Athletics drafted former MCC pitcher Ben Jukich Tuesday in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball Draft.
He was the 398th player taken.
The 6-foot-5, 195-pound left-handed pitcher attended MCC in the 2004 and played for the Indians in 2005 before transferring to Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell, S.D. this year where he was a junior and where his talents blossomed.
Tuesday's draft news didn't surprise MCC coach Jeremy Jorgensen, who said he called his former player prior to the draft to wish him luck. Jukich returned the call several hours later with the news.
"When Ben came here in 2004, you just knew he had the potential and the ability to pitch like he ended up doing this year," Jorgensen said.
"It's indescribable what's happened the past couple days," Jukich said. "Baseball has been my life and ever since I was I kid baseball is the only thing I ever wanted to do and if it wasn't for coach Jorgensen and my time at MCC, it never would have happened."
Jukich admits, his dream of playing professional baseball was nearly abandoned before Jorgensen entered the picture.
After graduating from Duluth Denfield High School in Minnesota in 2001, Jukich flunked out of junior college. He continued playing summer ball with the Bayside Vipers from Superior, Wis., in the Northwoods baseball league.
When the season ended in the fall of 2003, he was working a convenience store job and ready to give up his baseball dream.
He enlisted in the Army and was two weeks away from from making it official.
One of his Vipers teammates happened to be Jorgensen's brother, who recommended the pitcher to his brother Jeremy, who was just named MCC's head baseball coach.
Jukich scrambled to decline his Army commitment and took up Jorgensen's offer at a second chance for playing college baseball. He came to MCC in the fall of 2004, worked to become academically eligible and played for the Indians in the spring of 2005.
"The opportunity I got at MCC was everything," Jukich said. "I can't say enough about Coach J. There is so much you can learn from someone like him with his experience and knowledge."
Jukich admitted that he wasn't the best student, but he was determined not to fail at his second chance at MCC. When asked to reflect on his time on the MCC campus, Jukich said his first thought was all the time he spent in Jorgensen's office working on class stuff and all the time spent in the coach's baseball study hall.
"I wasn't the best student, but he helped me stay focused and helped me get to this point" Jukich said.
"I think more than anything, Ben needed a second chance at college," Jorgensen said. "He needed time to mature and to develop more discipline in the classroom and in his workouts."
Jorgensen said when he first saw Jukich, the left-hander had a fastball clocked at 77-79 mph on the radar gun. Prior to Tuesday's draft, scouts estimated his fastball at 91-93 mph.
"I don't' know really know what happened. I've done a lot of drills and things and I think my body's matured but in the last year everything is coming together," Jukich said. "I still don't think I've peaked."
Jukich has 14 days to sign a contract with Oakland. He is expected to go to Vancover to play for the A's rookie team in a few weeks after his contract and signing bonus is discussed with the Athletics organization.
It is predicted that he could sign a $50,000 signing bonus. If he does not sign a contract, he'd become a free agent and could be picked up by another major league team.
Jukich was the fourth NAIA player selected in the draft and the second NAIA pitcher selected. He becomes the first Great Plains Athletic Conference baseball player ever to be selected in the Major League Draft.
He finished the season with an overall record of 10-5 with an ERA of 1.90. He started 13 games with nine complete games and three shutouts. Jukich set the school record with 144 strikeouts in 94.2 innings of work, while walking just 15 batters.
Batters hit just .214 against Jukich on the season. He also set the single game record by striking out 17 batters in a single game against Midland Lutheran.
He earned honorable mention NAIA All-America honors in his only season at DWU. He was the GPAC Pitcher-of-the-Year and the Region III Pitcher-of-the-Year after earning First-Team All-GPAC and All-Region.
"Coach Jorgensen believed in me and gave me a second chance. It's not often you get a second chance. For that I'll be grateful forever for him and everybody at McCook," Jukich said.