CALDWELL, Idaho – In 2017, College of Idaho senior pitchers Riley O'Brien and Zach Draper led the Coyote baseball team to their second-straight NAIA National Tournament appearance. Three years later, both players are still living their dreams in professional baseball.
O'Brien was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth-round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Players Draft, while Draper was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 30th-round.
The duo each put up impressive numbers in a Coyote uniform and have continued to impress in the professional game.
O'Brien, a native of Shoreline, Wash., had consecutive banner seasons for the Coyotes – posting a .206 opponents' batting average over 136.2 career innings. As a senior, the right-hander went 3-4 and four saves with a 2.15 ERA, striking out 81 men in 67 innings – earning All-NAIA West honors – including a win over Mayville State in the 2017 NAIA National Tournament.
Draper, from Salt Lake City, Utah, was a two-time All-NAIA West pick, combining for 15 wins and a 2.55 ERA as a Coyote. During his senior season, the lefty walked just 15 batters and struck out 100 – tossing two shutouts and five complete games – including a one-hit, 12-strikeout shutout of Oregon Tech.
With MLB shutdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, both players have had their normal Spring Training activities altered.
"Spring Training was going well before the shutdown," O'Brien said from the Rays Spring Training facility in Port Charlotte, Fla. "I don't know where I will start the season, but right now, I'm just staying put until things settle down."
After having outstanding 2017 and 2018 seasons - including earning Midwest League All-Star honors in 2018 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods, O'Brien opened last season with the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Advanced-A Florida State League, posting a 2-0 record and a 1.59 ERA in 34 innings, striking out 35 batters. His efforts helped a promotion to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits in the Southern League, where O'Brien went 5-6 with a 3.93 ERA – striking out 72 batters – before an injury sidelined him for the final month of the season.
RILEY O'BRIEN MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER PAGE
Draper has posted 18 wins and 199 strikeouts during his three seasons in the Indians organization – pitching for five different teams. He was 7-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 2018 with short-season Mahoning Valley and followed with a 9-4 record and a 3.12 ERA at Class-A Lake County. Unfortunately, injuries have sidelined the 6-foot-3 southpaw. He was honored in June of 2018 as Midwest League Pitcher of the Week after throwing six innings of one-hit ball against Lansing.
"I've been out in Arizona since October rehabbing my lower back," Draper said from the Indians spring training facility in Goodyear. "I had surgery last week for a disc herniation, but am feeling much, much better."
ZACH DRAPER MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER PAGE
O'Brien and Draper were the 11th and 12th C of I players to be selected in the MLB Draft since 1972 (according the Baseball Reference) – joining Joe Patterson (1972), John Braase (1988), Brian Ewing (1990), Donnie Bellum (1992), Jason Butcher (1992), Kurt Alderman (1994), Jason Simontacchi (1996), Tim Onofrei (1996), Jason Stefani (2001) and
Izaac Garsez (2012).
