By Tiffany Razzano
Patrick Feehan and Michael Ambort were recently drafted to the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics minor league teams respectively. Both Feehan and Ambort grew up in Rockville Centre, working their way through the ranks of Rockville Centre Little League and the baseball teams at South Side Middle School and South Side High School.
Feehan is currently in Montana training with the Great Falls White Sox, the White Sox' advanced rookie team. He recently graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida with a degree in marketing and a minor in communications, a feat his father Francis Feehan called "unique" because all his son ever thought about was baseball.
Patrick's situation is also unique because he switched positions while at college. Throughout middle school, high school and even the first part of his college career, Feehan played outfield and shortstop. At college, one of his coaches thought that at 6'6", his height and arm strength might make him a good candidate for pitcher.
After some work with the pitching coach to improve his accuracy and with his pitches clocking in at 93 mph, Feehan was put into the starting rotation during his junior year. Feehan said that once he made the pitcher's mound his home he was able to "enjoy the game a lot more and was able to compete a lot better."
During the next summer, he pitched for the Torrington Twisters of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, where he was used as a closer. He enjoyed closing so much that he continued as the closer for his senior year at Eckerd. That year he had 20 pitching appearances with 32.1 innings pitched, 36 strikeouts and nine walks.
Now Feehan, who always dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player, will play with Great Falls until Sept. 1. After a few months off, he'll report back to spring training next March.
"Life is a game," said his father. "He's living his dream, so it's beautiful."
Ambort, a catcher, is currently a senior at Lamar University in Texas, where he is majoring in exercise science. He's still mulling over whether or not he'll sign with Oakland yet.
He's in his senior year of school, but because he sat out last season due to an injury that resulted in elbow surgery, he technically has a junior status according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This means he has two more years of eligibility to play baseball at the college level. A decision doesn't have to be made until mid-August, so he has two months to weigh the pros and cons.
Ambort feels he is in a win-win situation no matter what decision he makes. "The advantage is just getting into pro ball and having the opportunity to move up in the organization you were drafted by and hopefully it will be a quicker way to get into the major league," he said. "Going back to school, I get my degree, and [for next year's draft] I'll be a year older and maybe a little more wiser on the field."
Still, he's incredibly excited about being selected in the draft. "Growing up, you always look up to major leaguers," he said. "It's a pretty cool opportunity and change to get there. So it's definitely a life-long goal and dream of mine to play in the major league."
