2010 Draft Eligibles: AIA Fire

The sixth and final team of our ABL Draft Prospects watching is the AIA Fire. The Fire don't have as many draft prospects as some of the other teams in the league, most likely due to the nature of their team. Athletes in Action is a Christian ministry organization which sponsors teams in a couple other summer leagues around the country; I'm guessing that the net they cast isn't as wide and the talent is spread around a little bit more. But that's not to say that these guys aren't good, and in fact, they've netted some good prospects before and have at least one guy who will go early in the draft this year.

The guy I really love out of this bunch is left-handed batter Ryan Enos (2009), a senior outfielder for Dallas Baptist. He's not a big guy (5'10" 180lb) but he can drive the ball well and even hit one out of the park on occasion. He's hit for a high average everywhere he's played, including a league-leading .316 for the Fire in '09. He's got some speed, too. He'll swipe a few bases, and if he can get a little smarter on the base paths he will have serious pro leadoff potential. The College Baseball Blog ranked him #62 of their Top 100 for 2010, and as a senior I think he'll go in the top ten rounds; probably in the 7th or thereabouts.

Ryan Wooley (2009) is another guy to watch. He's got lots of raw talent but he's hit quite a few speed bumps along the way. First, the plug was pulled on his Cape Cod season a few years back after a vehicle accident involving another player. Then, he transferred to UAB and had to sit out the season due to NCAA rules. He was drafted by the Braves regardless, but came up to AK unsigned and the rust was apparent; his lackluster season with the Fire didn't help his cause any and the two parties couldn't come to terms. Will another team take a chance on him this year? We'll find out.


Brian Kolb (2009) intrigues me. When we're talking about top draft prospects, we usually don't get too excited about anyone at a Division III school like Wheaton. But Kolb has been ridiculously good every single year he's played there, has won about every offensive award handed out to DIII guys, and as a senior I would actually be really surprised if he didn't get drafted. Where? Your guess is as good as mine. But with a resume like his he's gotta be at least worth a late-round flier pick.

There's a couple more guys to watch out for: Ben Minard (2009) was an All-ABL selection and a DII All-American, so he might be playing his way into a draft selection, as could  Nick Crawford (2008), who went on to become a starting all-star selection in the Cape last year. Beyond those two, here's the rest of the list. I know I sound like a broken record, but please let me know of any omissions or errors. Now, for real this time, here it is:

Last	First	Pos	College	Team	Year
Crawford	Nick	2B	Alabama Birmingham	Fire	2008
Enos	Ryan	OF	Dallas Baptist	Fire	2008, 09
Fambrough	Alex	RHP	Bethany	Fire	2008, 09
Heath	Cameron	RHP	Belmont	Fire	2009
Hillenbrand	Eric	RHP	Wabash Valley	Fire	2008
Houser	Kenny	RHP	Point Loma Nazarene	Fire	2009
Kievit	Chris	C/OF	Long Island	Fire	2009
Kolb	Brian	SS	Wheaton	Fire	2009
Lancaster	Brett	C	S. Illinois Edwardsville	Fire	2007
Merritt	Jonathan	SS	Alabama Birmingham	Fire	2008
Millard	Ryan	LHP	Dallas Baptist	Fire	2007, 09
Minard	Ben	RHP	Ashland	Fire	2009
Schultz	Austin	IF	Western Carolina	Fire	2009
Stumetz	Jeremy	RHP	Gonzaga	Fire	2009
Teufel	Shawn	LHP	Liberty	Fire	2008
Thompson	Ryan	IF	Dallas Baptist	Fire	2008
Urbanek	Scott	OF	Palm Beach Atlantic	Fire	2009
Urbanowicz	Tim	RHP	Wheaton	Fire	2008
Wooley	Ryan	RHP	Alabama Birmingham	Fire	2009