Aug. 2, 2006

By Jay Stancil, Union Sports Information

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - It's been a wild ride for Brandon Ketron since leaving Union College (Ky.), but the former Bulldog catcher has gone from being undrafted to signing a free-agent contract with the New York Yankees.

"It's awesome. It's a relief and what I've been hoping for," Ketron said of signing on with an affiliated team. "Hopefully, I can keep on moving forward."

Ketron, who is in his first season of professional baseball, has been assigned to the Gulf Coast Yankees, a Tampa-based Rookie League affiliate and member of the Gulf Coast League.

In three seasons at Union, Ketron posted a .370 career batting average with 22 home runs and 132 RBIs as he was a two-time First Team All-Conference selection. In all, he ranks in the Top 10 in 10 career offensive categories. His .426 batting average in 2004 is the third highest by a Bulldog in program history, and he ranks third in career fielding percentage at .984.

The Maryville, Tenn. native began the 2006 season as a backup catcher for the Washington (Penn.) Wild Things of the independent Frontier League. However, he quickly earned the starting job en route to being named to the East Division All-Star Team.

A 2005 graduate of Union, Ketron's professional career has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride since his days as a Bulldog. Despite some promising prospects, he went undrafted and unsigned in 2005 and did not play a game since leaving Union in May.

"I couldn't get on a roster," he said. "There were a couple of (Major League Baseball) teams interested in me, but things just didn't work out. I even worked out for a couple of the other teams in the (Frontier) league, but I couldn't get on a roster."

Last October, Ketron finally got his foot in the door when the Wild Things signed for the 2006 season. Still, he had to earn his way on the team.

"Even though I signed with them, I still had to make the team in spring training," Ketron noted.

Sure enough, he made the team, but as the backup to a catcher who made the 2005 Frontier League All-Star Team. But as he began to get some playing time, Ketron made the most of it. So much so, that he eventually earned the starting job en route to make the all-star team. Currently, Ketron ranks third in the Frontier League in batting average (.333) and fifth in slugging (.502) while hitting 5 home runs with 32 RBI in 51 games for Washington.