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The Randleman High School bleachers were full April 8, with some 30 professional scouts on hand to watch the pitching duel between Randleman's Daniel Tuttle and Ragsdale's Nick McBride. They must have liked what they saw.

The two pitchers were taken five picks apart Wednesday in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft, Tuttle going to the Cincinnati Reds 149th overall before McBride went with pick No. 154 to Texas.

Both pitchers were on the MLB radar before the season, but helped their causes with blistering senior years.

Command issues plagued McBride as a junior — he walked 53 batters in 55 innings — but he pounded the strike zone this year with a 9-0 record, 0.90 ERA and .108 opponents' batting average. The 6-foot-4 righty struck out 77 and walked 14 in 46²/₃ innings and was Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference Player of the Year.

That was enough to move McBride up about 10 rounds from where he was projected before the season. Ragsdale coach Donnie Maness said he spoke by phone Wednesday with McBride, the first Ragsdale player drafted out of high school in Maness' 15 seasons.

"He was a little numb," Maness said. "It's obviously a big moment for them."

Tuttle, whose fastball has been clocked in the mid-90s, was equally impressive, with at least one scouting service calling the righthander the best pitching prospect in the state. Maness said his brother Chris, a former Phillies farmhand who is now Ragsdale's pitching coach, told him: "You could probably put Tuttle in Double-A right now and nobody would know the difference. That's how good his stuff is."

Several other area players also heard their names called Wednesday. Elon junior infielder Chase Austin, who shared the Southern Conference Player of the Year award after hitting a school-record 23 home runs, went 158th overall to the Florida Marlins.

UNCG junior righthander Rob Gilliam was drafted in the eighth round by the Oakland Athletics. Elon senior outfielder/pitcher Cory Harrilchak became the second Phoenix player selected when Atlanta drafted him in the 14th round. Elon catcher Dallas Tarleton was selected in the 20th round by Colorado, and N.C. A&T junior outfielder Christian "CJ" Beatty was picked by the Cardinals in the 26th round.

By the way, that pitching duel back in April never materialized. Ragsdale tagged Tuttle, who hadn't given up a hit all season, for eight runs and wound up winning 12-0. McBride threw a five-inning perfect game.

"We struck out 14 times, let me start by saying that," Maness said with a laugh. "But when we didn't, we put some good swings on it."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com