Published: June 15, 2008 11:52 pm      

Hunnicutt site of reunion for Rays’ Genao

PRINCETON — Don’t be jealous, but David Genao knows Burt Reynolds.

The two were good friends in New Jersey. They went to the same high school and were baseball teammates.

Uh, sorry. Different Burt Reynolds.

But Genao really does know Burt Reynolds — the Burt Reynolds who joins Genao on the Princeton Rays roster. The two have been reunited and will both begin their pro careers Tuesday when the Rays host the Pulaski Mariners at 7 p.m.

Genao, a catcher this spring at Oral Roberts University, and Reynolds were teammates at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J. Genao was drafted by Tampa Bay in the 18th round June 6, and Reynolds signed a free-agent contract with the Rays.

He was selected in the 30th round in 2006 by the Washington Nationals, but instead went to Okaloosa-Walton Community College in Niceville, Fla.

Their careers took different paths, but Genao and Reynolds were able to speak a couple of times over the last two seasons.

“I called him before the draft, and I (last) saw him my sophomore year in college two years ago,” Genao said.

The reunion doesn’t stop there for Genao, who was an all-conference player at Oral Roberts. He is joined at Hunnicutt Field by ORU teammate Mike Jarman, a left-handed pitcher who had a big season for the Golden Eagles.

“It’s a little bit easier transition than coming on to a team that you don’t know anyone,” Genao said.

By season’s end, P-Rays fans are likely to be well aware of Genao and Jarman.

Both players were big reasons why the Eagles went 48-14 this year, won the Summit League by winning 24 of 28 conference games and were close to advancing to the NCAA super regionals.

Genao was named first-team all-Summit League after hitting .347 with 10 homers and 55 runs batted in.

Oral Roberts defeated top-seeded Nebraska 8-0 to eliminate the Cornhuskers from the Lincoln regional, but fell the next day to the Anteaters of UC-Irvine.

“It was an amazing year,” Genao said. “Our hitting was great all year long. Our pitching struggled a little bit, but they always came around when they needed to come around.”

That includes Jarman, who was drafted in the 26th round. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound southpaw was 11-3 with a 4.24 earned run average. He struck out 95 batters and amazingly gave up just one home run in 102 innings pitched.

“I don’t throw real hard, but I try to keep the ball down and mix my pitches up, change speeds and really try to get groundballs,” he said. “I think I led my team in double plays (induced) and ground balls.”

He and Genao getting drafted by the same team and, thus, starting their careers together was big.

“As soon as we got drafted we called each other and were excited,” Jarman said. “It’s kind of a good thing because we know each other and we’re getting used to everything together. I think it will help us more than going somewhere we don’t know anyone.

“It’s a good situation for both of us.”

As members of a top college team, Jarman and Genao have their opinions of who can win the College World Series.

“Personally, I don’t like any of those teams. I wish we were there,” Jarman said.

“I don’t know. Miami’s got a good team. (But) I like Fresno State. I like underdogs. I like to see those guys in there. We were the underdogs, too, wherever we went. So it would be good for them to get in there and maybe win a few games.”

All Genao cares about is that Oral Roberts won’t win.

“We’re not in it, so I don’t care who wins, really,” Genao said.

“I’m focused now on the Rays.”

— E-mail: gfauber@

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