Nobody believed John McCurdy when he said recently that he had a chance to go in the first round of the amateur draft.
Admittedly, he had trouble believing it yesterday when the Oakland Athletics made him the 26th player chosen in the first round.
The draft went 22 rounds, and will resume today at noon.
A power-hitting shortstop from Arundel High School, McCurdy completed a terrific junior year at the University of Maryland, where he barely missed the national collegiate triple crown with a .443 batting average, 19 homers and 76 RBIs.
He led the Terps (34-22) to a school record for wins.
McCurdy is the third metro-area player - all Arundel County residents - chosen in the first round in the past two years. Severna Park residents and Mount St. Joseph graduates - pitcher Gavin Floyd and third baseman Mark Teixeira - were the fourth and fifth picks by Philadelphia and Texas, respectively, in last year's first round.
"I answered the phone and my advisor Rick Oliver was on there telling me that Oakland had taken me in the first round," said McCurdy, who received several phone calls from A's area scout Kelly Heath on Monday.
"For a short period of time, I was in shock, just standing there. This is what I have always wanted. I don't think anybody thought I would go that high, and I figured I was going to be a sandwich pick [31st pick - first of second round - and on], but I'm a No. 1."
McCurdy says Heath is flying in on Friday to initiate contract talks. Last year's 26th pick of the first round signed for $1.4 million.
McCurdy is the first No. 1 draft choice to ever play for legendary coach Bernie Walter at nine-time state champion Arundel.
Arundel's favorite son, major-league pitcher Denny Neagle was a third-round pick out of the University of Minnesota in 1989. Like Neagle, McCurdy has gone from being a skinny kid with potential to a big-time prospect through hard work.
McCurdy came out of Arundel in 1999 as an All-County shortstop and second-team All-Metro, batting .434 with five homers and 31 RBIs. He was 6 feet 1 and 170 pounds then.
Now 6-2 and 200 pounds at age 21, McCurdy spent endless hours building his strength.
"I knew if I worked hard lifting, running and hitting every day, I could increase my chances of going high this year," said McCurdy. "I busted my butt in the gym and hit until my hands bled, but I got off to a good start and that really helped my confidence."
A teammate of McCurdy's with the Maryland Orioles the past two summers, outfielder Kennard Jones was selected in the third round by the San Diego Padres. Jones is a graduate of High Point High School in Prince George's County and played at Indiana University.
The Montreal Expos chose left-handed pitcher Mike O'Connor of Ellicott City and George Washington University in the seventh round.
With their 21st pick, the Orioles took Towson University outfielderGregory Davies, who is from Sherwood High School in Montgomery County.
MLB amateur draft
First round
1. Pittsburgh, Bryan Bullington, rhp, Ball State
2. Tampa Bay, B.J. Upton, ss, Greenbrier Christian Academy, Chesapeake, Va..
3. Cincinnati, Chris Gruler, rhp, Liberty HS, Brentwood, Calif.
4. Orioles, Adam Loewen, lhp, Fraser Valley Christian, Surrey, British Columbia.
5. Montreal, Clint Everts, rhp, Cypress Falls HS, Houston.
6. Kansas City, Zack Greinke, rhp, Apopka (Fla.) HS.
7. Milwaukee, Prince Fielder, 1b, Eau Gallie HS, Melbourne, Fla.
8. Detroit, Scott Moore, ss, Cypress (Calif.) HS.
9. Colorado, Jeff Francis, lhp, U. of Br. Columbia.
10. Texas, Drew Meyer, ss, South Carolina.
11. Florida, Jeremy Hermida, of, Wheeler HS, Marietta, Ga.
12. Anaheim, Joe Saunders, lhp, Virginia Tech.
13. San Diego, Khalil Greene, ss, Clemson.
14. Toronto, Russ Adams, ss, North Carolina.
15. N.Y. Mets, Scott Kazmir, lhp, Cypress Falls HS, Houston.
16. Oakland (from Boston; Johnny Damon), Nick Swisher, 1b-of, Ohio State.
17. Philadelphia, Cole Hamels, lhp, Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego.
18. Chicago White Sox, Roger Ring, lhp, San Diego State.
19. Los Angeles, James Loney, 1b, Lawrence Elkins HS, Missouri City, Texas.
20. Minnesota, Denard Span, of, Catholic HS, Tampa, Fla.
21. Chicago Cubs, Bobby Brownlie, rhp, Rutgers.
22. Cleveland, Jeremy Guthrie, rhp, Stanford.
23. Atlanta, Jeff Francoeur, of, Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.
24. Oakland (from N.Y. Yankees; Jason Giambi), Joseph Blanton, rhp, Kentucky.
25. San Francisco, Matt Cain, rhp, Houston HS, Germantown, Tenn.
26. Oakland, John McCurdy, ss, Maryland.
27. Arizona, Sergio Santos, ss, Mater Dei HS, Hacienda Heights, Calif.
28. Seattle, John Mayberry Jr., 1b, Rockhurst HS, Kansas City, Mo.
29. Houston, Derick Grigsby, rhp, Northeast Texas CC.
30. Oakland (from St. Louis; Jason Isringhausen), Ben Fritz, rhp, Fresno State.
Supplemental picks
31. Los Angeles (Chan Ho Park) Gregory Miller, lhp, Esperanza HS, Yorba Linda, Calif.
32. Chicago Cubs (David Weathers) Luke Hagerty, lhp, Ball State.
33. Cleveland (Juan Gonzalez) Matthew Whitney, 3b, Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) HS.
34. Atlanta (Steve Karsay) Daniel Meyer, lhp, James Madison.
35. Oakland (Jason Giambi), Jeremy Brown, c, Alabama.
36. Chicago Cubs (Rondell White), Chadd Blasko, rhp, Purdue.
37. Oakland (Jason Isringhausen) Stephen Obenchain, rhp, Evansville.
38. Chicago Cubs (Todd Van Poppel) Matthew Clanton, rhp, Orange Coast College.
39. Oakland (Johnny Damon) Mark Teahen, 3b, St. Mary's College.
40. Cincinnati (Jeremy Sowers) Mark Schramek, rhp, Texas.
41. Cleveland (Alan Horne) Micah Schilling, 2b, Silliman Institute.