For Immediate Release
June 7, 2012
Southern New Hampshire lefty and Bentley
right-hander chosen on draft's third and final day
South Easton, Mass. – Southern New Hampshire University junior Tim Flight and Bentley University grad student Rob Finneran were both selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday afternoon.
Flight was selected in the 17th round (547th overall) by the New York Yankees after helping lead the Penmen to their first-ever College World Series appearance this spring, while Finneran, Bentley's all-time wins and strikeouts leader, was chosen in the 37th round (1142nd overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Flight, a 6-4 lefthander, went 9-1 with a 1.31 ERA this season while recording 140 strikeouts in 102.2 innings. For his efforts, the Portsmouth, R.I. native was named the Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year and was runner-up for the Tino Martinez Award, presented annually to the top player in Division II. Flight was also a consensus First Team All-American and was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Pitcher of the Year.
Finneran, a 6-3 right-hander, came back from Tommy John surgery to go 8-3 with a 2.26 ERA this season for the Falcons, who finished 28-23 overall. A native of Garden City, N.Y., Finneran also struck out 78 in 79.2 innings on his way to being selected as a 2012 Northeast-10 First Team choice. He was an All-Conference pick in each of his three seasons and also earned second-team Daktronics and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-East Region honors this past year.
Flight became the third player in program history at So. New Hampshire to be selected in the MLB Draft, while Finneran was the fifth Falcon all-time to receive selection.
The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
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