Tuesday, June 9, 2009.

The Major League Draft commences today, without the hoopla and media attention of the drafts in the NFL and NBA. But the guessing game will begin in the Boise Hawks front office. Which of these guys will head for Memorial Stadium? It used to be that first round draft picks assigned to Boise were a rarity, but it's become more common since the Hawks have been affiliated with the Cubs. The Cubbies don't go on the clock until the 31st pick of the first round, so there's a chance we'll see that player here this summer.

Last season, the Hawks eventually picked up the Cubs' first round draft choice, pitcher Andrew Cashner out of TCU, the 19th overall pick. They also were assigned supplemental first-rounder Ryan Flaherty, the shortstop out of Vanderbilt. Cashner was 1-1 in six appearances for the Hawks last year with an ERA of 4.96. He's now coming out of the bullpen for long season Class A Daytona, with no decisions and a sparkling 1.75 ERA. Flaherty had a good season in Boise in 2008, batting .297 with eight home runs. He's now with Peoria, where he's hitting .243 with seven homers.

Former Boise State star Jared Zabransky got a jump on his Canadian adventure with the opening of the Edmonton Eskimos rookie camp last Thursday. The Esks are into the real thing now, and Zabransky starts his quest to make the roster. Zabransky revealed some recent arthroscopic surgery in an interview with the Edmonton Journal. "I'm healthy again and I'm happy playing football again," Zabransky said. "It's very close to being 100 percent." The article wasn't clear, but it said, "His health problem occurred in 2003, and cracks in his clavicle weren't discovered until 2008 in Pittsburgh." What was that health problem during Z's freshman year? I don't recall.

Ironically, the spot Zabransky is trying to fill on the Eskimos' depth chart is that of Stefan LeFors, the quarterback who started opposite him for Louisville in the 2004 Liberty Bowl. LeFors was traded to Winnipeg during the offseason. And LeFors' presence with the Blue Bombers is the main reason BSU great Ryan Dinwiddie was cut loose over the weekend.

Nampa's Eric Peterson said he was going to make sure he had fun yesterday at the U.S. Open Sectional qualifier. And for awhile he was doing just that at the Tumble Creek Club in Roslyn, WA. Peterson was within shouting distance of the leaders in his first round, shooting a 73. Then he shot 81 in the second round. It was over quickly for Nampa's Jason Kimball, who went 81-83. In Columbus, OH, former Boise State standout Graham DeLaet played well but fell short, shooting 67-71. And Boise's Ryan Hietala played the Sectional in Memphis but didn't advance after a 67-74.

Back to baseball with some weekend catch-up: A couple former Boise Hawks pitchers were at opposite ends of the spectrum Sunday, in more ways than one. Rich Hill started for the Orioles and didn't get out of the first inning, charged with all three Oakland runs in an eventual 3-0 loss. Hill walked four and hit a batter in a disastrous outing that resulted in his first loss of the season against two wins and jumped his ERA to 5.24. Angel Guzman, on the other hand, didn't see the mound until the 14th inning for the Cubs yesterday. Guzman pitched a scoreless frame to earn his first save of the season--and his career--in a 6-3 win over the Reds, lowering his ERA to 2.28. The 27-year-old Venezuelan hasn't allowed a run in his last 12 appearances.

And, just when it looked like Branden Florence was going to settle into post-baseball life as a Payette River outfitter, he pops up in the minors again. The former College of Idaho standout signed with the Angels organization last month and is in Double-A with the Arkansas Travelers. In 12 games, Florence is hitting .293 with three doubles. He played last year in the independent Atlantic League.

This Day In Sports...June 9, 1966:

The Minnesota Twins tie a major league record when Rich Rollins, Zoilo Versalles, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher, and Payette's Harmon Killebrew all homer in the seventh inning of a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City A's. Oliva, Mincher and Killebrew connect consecutively, all with two outs.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB's Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 1350 KTIK/The Ticket. He also handles color commentary on KTVB's telecasts of Boise State football.)

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