Alek Manoah, West Virginia Baseball’s Friday night ace, has pitched himself into first round status for the upcoming June draft in Major League Baseball. Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, Manoah went 9 strong innings, striking out 15 Jayhawks and allowing just 3 hits as he shutout the visiting Lawrence baseball team. The shutout continued Manoah’s scoreless streak, which has now reached 31 consecutive innings.
If it seems like Manoah has come out of nowhere, where you aren’t totally wrong. In his first two seasons with the Mountaineers, Manoah worked as a reliever and spot-starter/long-reliever. He flashed some brilliance; you will when you have the ability to throw 97 MPH, but he hadn’t shown he was first round material.