Wasilla hurler drafted

WASILLA -- A baseball player from Alaska is normally a small fish in a big pond.

Few have lived the professional dream and hardly any have experienced their Major League fantasy.

One Wasilla native has earned the right to play professional baseball and has a shot at the major league fantasy.

At 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday Roy Friesen got a call from major league scout Hal DeBerry.

DeBerry told Friesen that he had just been drafted by the Florida Marlins.

Now Friesen is literally a small fish in the big pond of professional baseball.

Friesen was obviously excited about his new career.

"I'll be getting paid to play the game I love," Friesen said. "I'll be making a living doing a kid's sport."

The Marlins used their 983rd pick to draft the hard-throwing right hander in the 33rd round.

"I was a little disappointed," Friesen said. "A number of scouts said that I could go in the 15th round.

"I am still happy."

Jim Ressler, Friesen's former little league and high school coach, spent the afternoon playing close attention to the Internet to see who landed one of the top baseball prospects ever from Alaska.

"I sat there and kept hitting the refresh key," Ressler said.

The Marlins' website has a brief description of Friesen. They call him a "strong, athletic, well built right handed pitcher from a remote area."

Though Wasilla is not exactly Deliverance, the description is accurate. Friesen is projected to be a closer in the long-term, but could be a starter early in his career.

Friesen's power approach on the mound may make him an ideal closer, a position that Friesen would proudly take.

"I like the closing role," Friesen said. "Striking out three to end the game. I like the bulldog mentality."

Friesen already has the tools for the trade. His list of pitches includes a drop ball (spike curve), slider and change up in addition to a fastball that has reached 94 miles per hour. According to Friesen he can hit 90-91 miles per hour consistently. The major league average is about 90 miles per hour.

"He has upside, zip," former Maajor League associate scout and current Mat-Su Miners general manager Pete Christopher said. "He has good action, good mechanics and a power arm."

Friesen pitched for Mat-Su last season.

Christopher said that his spot on a pro pitching staff will depend on him and the organization.

"Some organizations are good at developing talent, and some not so good," Christopher said.

"He's got a lot of arm."

Following a little league, high school and legion career in Alaska where he virtually dominated with his fastball, Friesen went on to pitch for Columbia Basin Community College in Washington.

This season Friesen struck out 54 hitters in 37 innings for Columbia Basin.

Friesen will sign with the Marlin organization and his first stop will be Jupiter, Fla. where he will join the Florida rookie ballclub.

Friesen is believed by many to be the first player from the Valley drafted by a Major League baseball squad.