(From Owens Community College)

For the fourth time in modern history, the Owens Express baseball team had a former player taken in the Major League Baseball Draft.

Hunter Allen, who played at Owens in 2022 and 2023, was taken by the Baltimore Orioles with the 214th overall pick on Monday.

In two seasons with the Express, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound right hander went 10-3 with 105 strikeouts in 79 innings and a 1.86 ERA. He went 6-0 with 54 strikeouts and a 1.85 ERA during his second season at Owens.

Owens baseball coach John Parisho said he couldn’t be more excited for Allen and his family. He also pointed out the tremendous amount of work it took to get in a position to be drafted.

“He is so competitive by nature, and it will serve him well moving forward,” Parisho said. “I’m excited for our program and to show our guys that it’s possible to come out of Owens and reach your goals and dreams. Hard work always pays off.”

Allen came to Owens as a two-way player from nearby Woodmore High School in Woodville. Parisho remembers the impression Allen made when he took the mound.

“I will never forget when watching him on the mound, there was just an overwhelming presence when he threw,” Parisho said. “We had a conversation in the middle of his freshman season fall camp about becoming a pitcher only. I put the decision in his court and a couple days later he walked into my office and said he wanted to be a pitcher and do what’s best for the team and his future. He hasn’t looked back since.”

After Owens, Allen went to Ashland University, where he went 7-1 with a 3.96 ERA and 84 strikeouts this season. He was named first-team All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference and second-team All-Midwest Region by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

In modern times, Owens has fielded a varsity baseball team since 1994. Allen joins Aaron Franke (1999 Draft eighth round, Los Angeles Angels), Ryan Clark (2000 Draft, 40th round, New York Yankees) and Mike Ramlow (2005 Draft, 24th round, Milwaukee Brewers) as Owens players taken in the MLB Draft. He is the first player drafted since Owens went to Division III in the NJCAA.

In the early days of Owens, when the college was known as Penta Tech, the Cleveland Indians selected Penta Tech outfielder Ronald “Butch” Allen in the first round (16th overall) of the 1967 draft-secondary phase.