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Overcast Clarke alum drafted by Tampa Bay Rays
Tim Ingram selected in 31st round
Of the 1,200-plus athletes drafted in last week’s Major League Baseball 2015 Draft, East Meadow and Salisbury residents may recognize a familiar name — Tim Ingram, a 2011 W.T. Clarke High School graduate who was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 31st round, with the 928th pick.
“We are so proud of him,” said his mother, Karen. “This is something Timothy has looked forward to his whole life. He’s loved baseball since he was 3-years-old.”
Ingram pitched at Nassau Community College before joining SUNY Old Westbury for his final two collegiate years, becoming the second student from the school to ever be drafted.
Karen said the accomplishment was the result of years of hard work by her son, who “always gives 110 percent.” But one of the most rewarding parts of this past week, she said, was all of the support the family has received from the community, as well as her son’s former coaches and teammates. “The phones were going crazy,” said Karen, noting that Tim also pitched in the Hamptons Collegiate League, based in Westhampton. “All of the players were so supportive of him and congratulated him.”
But the greatest amount of support came from their family, including Tim’s two brothers, Christopher, 30, and Douglas, 28, both Clarke graduates, his father, Douglas Sr., who is the chief of the Westbury Fire Department, as well as Tim’s cousins and nephews.
Ingram closed out his career at Old Westbury with a 14-strikeout performance on May 13 in a 7-5 victory over Baldwin Wallace to earn his school its first NCAA Division III Tournament win since 2000. He was named the Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year each of the last two seasons.
In those two years, he struck out 165 batters over 130 innings while registering a 14-6 record.
Ingram became Old Westbury’s single-season strikeout leader this spring, fanning 92 in 69.1 innings of work. In 14 appearances (10 starts) on the mound this season, he posted a 1.82 earned run average.
Karen said her son has already reported to the Hudson Valley Renegades in upstate Fishkill, Tampa’s Class-A affiliate. “We’re thrilled,” she said. “It’s a very happy, exciting time.”
