Knights All-Star Pitcher Max Beatty of PLU Earns Lofty Preseason Honor.

Beatty Named #1 Prospect in NCAA DIII by Baseball America

Pitcher Max Beatty of Pacific Lutheran of the Northwest Conference and the Corvallis Knights has been rated as the top professional prospect in Division III for the 2012 draft by Baseball America.

A junior right-hander from Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, Wash., Beatty (pictured with PLU teammate Corey Moore; Max's right-hand holding the Knights' WCL championship trophy) was 6-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 12 regular-season and playoff appearances for the Knights in 2011. He and Chris Johnson of University of Portland led the team in wins (6); Beatty led the team in innings pitched (63.1) and strikeouts (53), was a second-team All-West Coast League selection, and a West Division all-star.

Below is the magazine's complete evaluation:

1. Max Beatty, rhp, Pacific Lutheran (Wash.): Four-pitch righty with physical 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame has average fastball velocity, solid slider.

Beatty was 5-4 with a 3.75 ERA in 13 games for the Lutes in 2011 and was an honorable-mention All-Northwest Conference selection. He led the team with 81.2 innings pitched, and was second on the team with 60 strikeouts.

In Beatty's first season with the Knights in 2010, he went 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five appearances.

The 40-round major-league draft is scheduled for June 4-6.

In more sobering news, Max will miss the 2012 spring college season.

The right-hander is undergoing treatment for testicular cancer, Knights' president Dan Segel announced yesterday.

Max was diagnosed with cancer this past December and immediately underwent surgery. He begins a 6-to-8 week course of chemotherapy next week.

As a result, Beatty will not pitch this spring, but hopes to red-shirt and not lose a year of eligibility.

"We will do anything and everything we can to support Max and to hasten his recovery," Segel said. "He has been an integral part of our team the past two summers. Our thoughts, and those of our fans, are with him and his family at this time."

There is hope that Beatty might make his return to baseball with the Knights this summer.

Cards of support should be mailed to Max Beatty, 811 SE 75th Court, Vancouver, WA 98664.