HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford junior pitcher Stephen Ridings has been selected by the Chicago Cubs in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) amateur draft on Friday afternoon. Ridings was selected with the 254th overall pick in the draft. The right-hander is the fourth Ford in the history of the Haverford baseball program to be selected.
For the second straight season a Haverford pitcher has recieved the draft day call, as Ridings joins former teammate Tommy Bergjans '15, an eighth round selection of the Los Angeles Dodgers a year ago, as recent Fords to be selected. Chaon Garland '91 was a third round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 MLB Draft while Dean Laganosky '09 was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 45th round of the 2008 draft.
The Fords have had six players play minor league baseball, most recently Bergjans, who is currently playing in the Dodgers organization. Haverford has had one player reach the majors with Bill Lindsay '09 playing in 19 games for the Cleveland Naps (precursor to the Cleveland Indians) in 1911.
Ridings had a stellar campaign for the Centennial Conference Champions in 2016, earning second-team All-Centennial Conference honors after posting a 6-3 record with a 2.62 ERA. Ridings struck out 87 batters while allowing 37 walks over 68.2 innings pitched. The chemistry major finished second in the Centennial in strikeouts and fourth in wins. His 11.98 strikeouts per nine innings represented the third highest rate in program history for a single season.
The Commack, N.Y. product struck out 11 batters in a one-hit shutout victory over then-No. 21 McDaniel on April 16 and excelled in postseason competition, hurling 7.2 innings with 10 strikeouts in the Centennial Conference tournament against Johns Hopkins before allowing no earned runs in an 11-strikeout start against UMass Boston in NCAA Regional Play in Moosic, Pa.
In 2015, Ridings appeared both as a starter and out of the bullpen, posting a 4.19 ERA in eight appearances, striking out 10 in 19 innings. His freshman campaign in 2014 included a limited run of 11 innings in which he struck out six batters.