Three Milwaukee Panthers Drafted in 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft

The Milwaukee baseball team had three players – Jordan Guth, Eric Semmelhack and Paul Hoenecke – drafted in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft that ran from Monday, June 4 through Wednesday, June 6.

Guth became the highest selection in UWM baseball history when the Philadelphia Phillies took him in the ninth round with the 308^th overall pick. The three-year letterman spent his first two seasons in Milwaukee as a starter before coming out of the bullpen in his junior year. In 2012, he finished fourth in the Horizon League with six saves, while posting a 3.27 earned run average in 28 appearances.

Overall in his three years with the Panthers, Guth made 54 appearances, striking out 87 batters in 118.2 innings.

Semmelhack came off the board three rounds after Guth when the Milwaukee Brewers took him in the 12^th round with the 395^th overall selection. Semmelhack led the conference in strikeouts in 2012, striking out 72 batters in 88.1 innings of work. He also ranked among league leaders in ERA (3.77) and opponents’ batting average (.265).

In three seasons with Milwaukee, Semmelhack had a 3.94 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 194.0 innings of play.

Hoenecke was the third and final Milwaukee player drafted when the Los Angeles Dodgers nabbed him in the 24^th round with the 746^th overall pick. Hoenecke garnered First-Team Horizon League honors in 2012 after batting .306 with 18 doubles and 41 RBIs. The two-time HL Academic All-League honoree finished his career with a .301 batting average and became just the eighth player to record over 200 hits at UWM and finished fifth all-time with 242 hits. He set a UWM career mark with 803 career at-bats and ranks second in games played at 211. He also ranks second at UWM with 63 doubles, sixth with 135 runs scored, sixth with 133 RBIs and fifth with 349 total bases.

The Panthers have now had 19 players drafted in the program’s history and this year marks the first time since 2001-02 that the team has had players drafted in back-to-back years (Chad Pierce 38^th round, 1,151 overall, by the Milwaukee Brewers).