June 23, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Former Yale pitchers Brian Irving and Steve Gilman, who shared the Bulldogs' Raymond W. (Ducky) Pond Pitching Award this season, made their professional baseball debuts over the weekend. Irving, a 17th-round (507th overall) pick by the San Francisco Giants, is playing for the Salem-Keizer (OR) Volcanoes, the Giants' short-season Class-A affiliate. Gilman, a 36th-round (1,093rd overall) selection by the Detroit Tigers, is a member of the short-season Class-A Oneonta (NY) Tigers.

Irving has pitched in two of the Volcanoes' six games so far. He made his debut on June 19 against the Yakima Bears, pitching two perfect innings out of the bullpen and striking out five of the six batters he faced. The right-hander earned his first professional win in the 3-2 victory. Three days later, Irving had three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of a 7-4 Volcanoes win over the Tri-City Dust Devils.

Gilman also made his first appearance on June 19, tossing one inning at the Vermont Lake Monsters. He allowed one run and one hit in the Tigers' 13-8 victory.

The third Yale player taken earlier this month in the First-Year Player Draft, Ryan Lavarnway, a sixth-round pick of the Boston Red Sox (No. 202 overall), is at the team's Spring Training facility in Fort Myers, Fla., recovering from the wrist injury that forced him to miss Yale's last 11 games.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity