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Binghamton University baseball pitcher Jeff Montani (Liverpool, N.Y.) has signed a professional contract with the Baltimore Orioles, who drafted him in the 36th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Montani will likely be assigned to the Orioles’ advanced rookie team at Bluefield in the Appalachian League.
"I’m very happy for Jeff and his family," BU head coach Tim Sinicki said. "It’s an outstanding opportunity for him, and I’m sure he’ll continue to work hard to make the most of it. We’ll certainly miss Jeff in our program. It’s never easy to replace a young man who has been the number one pitcher for three years."
Montani pitched three seasons at Binghamton, amassing 15 wins with a 3.63 earned run average. This past spring, he was a first-team all-conference pick after leading Binghamton to 19 wins and a runner-up finish in the Division I New York State Baseball Conference. Montani struck out 73 batters in 80 innings, and won a team-high six games. On March 24, he fired a no-hitter against Lehigh University, and followed that start with a 10-strikeout performance against Army.
He becomes the seventh BU baseball player to sign a professional contract.
Year / Player / Team
1976 / Jerry Gaube / New York Yankees
1981 / Mike Bucko / Cleveland Indians
1985 / Dan Tauken / Chicago White Sox
1990 / Dan Gray / Los Angeles Dodgers
1990 / Dirk Gorman / Los Angeles Dodgers
1994 / Dan Rootenberg / Chilicothe Paints (Independent Frontier League)
2001 / Jeff Montani / Baltimore Orioles
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