MU's Crow wins pitching award

The Missouri baseball season is long over, but former Tigers pitcher Aaron Crow is still winning.

Crow, who finished last season 13-0 for Missouri, won the Clemens Award on Monday. The Greater Houston Baseball Association presents this award, named for Roger Clemens of Major League fame, to the best collegiate pitcher every season.

Crow, a junior last season, is now pitching for the Fort Worth Cats, an Independent Professional Baseball team in Texas. He chose not to sign with the Washington Nationals, who selected him ninth overall in the June amateur draft.

He is eligible for next year's draft, while the Nationals received the 10th overall pick as compensation for not signing Crow, 21.

"I've heard his velocity is 93-98 (mph)," said Chad Tredaway, manager and director of player personnel for the Cats. "You're not the ninth pick in the draft for nothing."

Crow's situation is similar to Luke Hochevar, the 40th overall pick in 2005. He chose not to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers and instead played with Fort Worth. The Kansas City Royals selected Hochevar first overall in 2006.

Max Scherzer, the only other MU player ever selected in the first round, played for the Cats after being selected 11th overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006. He ultimately signed with Arizona that season.

Crow was also a 2008 All-American, a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, and the 2008 Big-12 Conference Pitcher of the Year.

Finalists for the Clemens Award included Joshua Fields of the University of Georgia, Chris Hernandez of the University of Miami, and Brian Matusz of University of San Diego.

Recent winners include David Price (2007, Vanderbilt University), Andrew Miller (2006, University of North Carolina), Hochevar (2005, University of Tennessee), and Jared Weaver (2004, Long Beach State).