Two Mizzou pitchers chosen on day two of MLB Draft

Missouri had two pitchers drafted Tuesday on the second day of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft.

The Arizona Diamondbacks snapped up Tigers junior closer Breckin Williams in the fourth round with the No. 106 overall pick.

During the ninth round, the Rangers chose junior right-hander Peter Fairbanks with the No. 258 overall selection.

Williams, 6 feet 1 and 214 pounds from Webb City, Mo., went 4-4 with a 1.98 ERA and an MU-record 13 saves in 25 appearances.

He struck out 39 and allowed 32 hits and nine walks in 36 1/3 innings.

Williams throws a fastball that sits in the low to mid 90s, a cutter that occasionally acts like a slider, and a curveball.

Fairbanks, a 6-6 and 225-pound graduate of Webster Groves High in suburban St. Louis, went 4-5 with a 3.40 ERA in 15 starts last season.

He struck out 79 and allowed 73 hits and 28 walks in 76 2/3 innings.

▪ Two other players with ties to area high schools also were selected Tuesday.

The Orioles nabbed Oregon junior left-hander Garrett Cleavinger late in the third round with pick No. 102 overall.

Cleavinger, 6 feet and 220 pounds, is a Lawrence High graduate. He went 6-2 with a 1.58 ERA and nine saves for the Ducks, striking out 66 with only 20 hits allowed and 17 walks in 40 innings.

Missouri State junior left-hander Matt Hall was chosen with the 190th overall pick in the sixth round by Detroit.

Hall, a Lee’s Summit West graduate, went 12-2 with a 2.02 ERA in 19 appearances, including 17 starts, for the Bears this spring.

He beat Arkansas in the middle game of the NCAA super regional last weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., and finished the season with an NCAA-best and Missouri Valley Conference-record 171 strikeouts against 87 hits and 45 walks in 125 innings.

▪ A day after Missouri State right-hander Jon Harris was chosen 29th overall by Toronto, teammate Tate Matheny, a center fielder and son of Cardinals manager and former major-league catcher Mike Matheny, was chosen in the fourth round with the 111th pick by Boston.

Matheny batted .291 with 18 doubles, five home runs and 43 RBIs for the Bears, who were the No. 8 seed in the NCAA tourney.

▪ Kansas State junior right-hander Nate Griep went to the Brewers in the eighth round with the 241st overall pick. Griep went 6-3 with a 2.63 ERA and 64 strikeouts against 62 hits and 33 walks in 78 2/3 innings during 13 starts for the Wildcats.

Wildcats commitment Willie Calhoun of Yavapai College in Arizona, who led junior college players with 31 home runs this season, was chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth round, 132nd overall.

This story was originally published June 9, 2015 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Two Mizzou pitchers chosen on day two of MLB Draft."