Four Huskies and one recruit were drafted in June’s Major League Baseball Draft, three of whom have moved on to the minor leagues.

A fourth, Joe Piekarz, joined his former teammates on the next level after he signed a free-agent contract with the Oakland Athletics June 15.

Rob Marconi (22nd round) and Zach Minor (25th round) were drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, while the San Francisco Giants picked up Trevor Wohlgemuth in the 26th round and Mike Santoro in the 49th round. Marconi, Minor and Wohlgemuth moved on to the minor leagues, while Santoro decided to return to NIU for his senior season.

Rockton Hononegah High 2004 graduate Brett Scarpetta, who the Huskies signed to a letter of intent Dec. 2, was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 18th round but has chosen to enroll at Madison Area Technical College. By attending a junior college, Scarpetta will be eligible for next year’s draft.

Joe Mazzuca, who was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 12th round in 2003, played 67 games for the Greensboro [N.C.] Cats this season before being released. He is now a free agent and hopes to be signed before spring training 2005 starts.

Brian Schmack became the first Huskie in 27 years to reach the major leagues after he appeared in 11 games for the Detroit Tigers last season. He has appeared in 21 games this year for the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers.

Rob Marconi

NIU’s all-time home-run leader has continued for the Aberdeen [Md.] IronBirds what he started with the Huskies.

The third baseman has banged out eight extra base hits in 91 at-bats while posting a .330 batting average.

“I still feel comfortable at this level,” Marconi said. “I never thought I was out of my league.”

The IronBirds’ season ends Saturday, after which Marconi will have time off and then report to the Orioles’ fall instructional league Sept. 19.

Marconi, who was primarily a run producer during his time at NIU, has found himself batting leadoff for the IronBirds.

“That’s definitely something new,” Marconi said. “I’d never batted leadoff in my life before this. But as long I’m in the lineup, I don’t really care where I hit.”

Zach Minor

Minor took quite a liking to pitching out of the bullpen for the Bluefield [Va.] Orioles of the Appalachian League, who finished their season Sunday.

The Moline native was a starter all four years for the Huskies.

“It was a little bit of an adjustment, but it’s still the same old thing,” Minor said. “It’s still pitching. You just have to get ready faster.”

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Minor had two wins and one loss in 16 appearances. His final ERA was 4.80 while he averaged over a strikeout an inning with 32 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Minor is back in DeKalb to finish his degree this semester, and will report to Orioles’ spring training sometime in March, he said.

Joe Piekarz

Piekarz originally started in the Phoenix Athletics’ bullpen, but moved to the starting rotation, where he flourished.

His final numbers for the season were a 4-2 record with a 1.66 ERA. He struck out 42 batters in 40 innings pitched.

Being limited to a pitch count took some getting used to by Piekarz. In one game Piekarz was removed after just four innings even though he hadn’t given up a run.

“That is a little frustrating,” Piekarz said. “ When I was pitching at Northern, I would go well over 100 pitches and not worry about it. Here, they’re a little more cautious and limit me to somewhere between 80 and 100 pitches.”

Trevor Wohlgemuth

There was a reason Wohlgemuth wasn’t putting up the kind of numbers for the Salem-Keizer [Ore.] Volcanoes as he did for the NIU baseball team.

“He wasn’t doing as well as he could,” Mathey said. “He had some tendinitis problems in his shoulder that were affecting his velocity.”

Wohlgemuth pitched just seven and a third innings for the Volcanoes before being shut down for the season.

He allowed five earned runs for a 6.14 ERA while walking six batters.