WNCC's Rohrbough poised to go with Atlanta Braves

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - It had to be a bittersweet moment for Cole Rohrbough. Well, actually it was mostly sweet.

Rohrbough, a left-handed pitcher, has reached an agreement with the Atlanta Braves. The Braves kept the rights to Rohrbough after they took him in last year's Major League draft and wasted no time in making a deal with him. Rohrbough said he was going to fly back to Atlanta either Wednesday night or today, where he will meet with Braves general manager John Shurholz.

Rohrbough should sign with the Braves in the next couple of days and then will likely be assigned to either a rookie league or short-season Class A team.

And Rohrbough got what he wanted. He'll receive a signing bonus of $675,000 or about what a second round draft choice would be given.

The Braves are now able to sign Rohrbough since the Western Nevada Community College baseball team's season came to an end on Wednesday in an 11-1 loss to New Mexico Junior College in the JUCO World Series.

"I'm very satisfied," said Rohrbough about the deal he's going to sign. "It's every little boy's dream to grow up and sign a pro contract.

"Especially where I was two years ago. I didn't think I'd have a chance to go pro. I'm just really thankful."

WNCC coach D.J. Whittemore said Rohrbough could have only raised his stock when he shut out Delgado Community College of New Orleans over 7.1 innings and struck out 12 in a 2-0 win.

"His three-hit shutout didn't hurt him any," said Whittemore.

"He's a driven young man. He wants to pitch in the Big Leagues. My money's on him accomplishing that."

As far as WNCC's other pitchers, Whittemore said Justin Garcia, Stephen Sauer and T.J. Wohlever all could be drafted. But Garcia and Sauer may not be drafted because they're not that "signable." Garcia and Sauer have both signed with Division I schools, Garcia with UNLV, and Sauer with Arizona State, teams may not be able to draft them high enough to offer them a large enough signing bonus to pass up their four-year schools.

"Justin and Sauer are both in the same spot," Whittemore said. "Teams weigh how much it's going to cost to sign them. They may not be drafted at all."

Whittemore said if Garcia and Sauer hadn't signed with Division I schools, "they'd be locks to be drafted." And Whittemore did say Garcia and Sauer still have a good chance to be drafted.

Wohlever hasn't signed with a Division I school and that actually increases his "signability." Wohlever has a fastball in the 86-90 mile-per-hour range. He also did a relatively good job in keeping San Jacinto College of Texas in check in a 12-5 loss on Tuesday.

"He overmatched a few of their hitters," said Whittemore about Wohlever. That's impressive considering how much of an offensive power San Jac has been in the World Series.

• Contact Charles Whisnand at cwhisnand@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1214.