WHIRLWIND WEEK SEES TIGER GRAD COMMIT, CUT ON, DRAFTED

It has been a tiring but rewarding past couple of days for recent Cape Girardeau Central High School graduate Ross Bennett.

Bennett left Cape Girardeau Wednesday evening headed for St. Louis, where he had shoulder surgery Thursday morning. Plenty groggy, he then returned home late Thursday afternoon.

But before leaving Cape Wednesday, Bennett received the news that most talented young baseball players dream of -- he had been selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Bennett, one of the area's top players the past several seasons, was taken by the Montreal Expos in the 42nd round.

And that wasn't all the good baseball news for Bennett during a short time span. Tuesday night, he gave an oral commitment to attend Baylor University. And shortly after the surgery, he found out he had been selected to play in the Missouri Class 4A All-Star baseball game that will be held later this month.

"In about a 24-hour period I committed to Baylor, got drafted, had surgery and made the all-star game," said a smiling Bennett while relaxing at home Thursday evening. "A lot of things happened to me in that time and most of it was good."

A speedy center fielder who bats and throws left, Bennett had a standout senior season for Central's Tigers this year, hitting .495 with three home runs, 26 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases.

With professional scouts following him most of the season, Bennett was given every indication that he would be selected much higher than the 42nd round.

But that was before he notified scouts that he would need surgery on both shoulders to repair torn rotator cuffs.

All of a sudden, Bennett thought that he might not be drafted at all. But he said he really didn't let it bother him.

"Originally I had hoped to go a lot higher, but having surgery, that was pretty well going to wipe out my whole season and they would have wanted me to report this week," he said. "But I knew that even if I didn't get drafted, I still had a great place to go to school and I figured I could get drafted in three years anyway."

Bennett said he had been bothered by problems with both shoulders for some time, but he didn't find out until after Central's season that he would need to have surgery twice. Fortunately, he said, being able to repair the problems arthroscopically will cut down on his recovery time.

Bennett, who had his left (throwing) shoulder worked on Thursday, figures he'll have a few weeks of rehabilitation before returning to St. Louis to have his right shoulder scoped.

Although he won't be able to play baseball at all this summer, he said he's looking forward to being fully recovered by the fall.

"I'll really miss playing American Legion baseball this summer, but I'm glad to have it done," he said. "It was frustrating to play the whole year with two torn rotator cuffs. I'm really excited for the future."

Bennett, who also starred in football for Central and earned the school's Scholar Athlete Award with a 3.7 grade-point average, isn't quite sure what the future has in store for him.

There is still a chance Bennett could eventually sign with the Expos, depending on how his recovery goes. But more than likely, he'll attend Baylor along with his high school teammate, pitcher Craig Ringwald, who recently signed with the school in Waco, Texas.

"The Expos scout said they'd come back at the end of the summer and check on me," he said. "The good thing is that it's exciting both ways, either the pros or college. Baylor has a great baseball program and a great academic reputation, so I can't go wrong there."

Bennett said he received plenty of encouragement from several people regarding his shoulder problems.

"The Expos scout and the Baylor coach both said just to work hard and fight through it," he said. "And my doctor seemed real positive that I would come back really well from this. All that was very encouraging."

Added Bennett with a grin, "It was exciting just to get drafted. I consider it a real honor. Now we'll just have to see what happens."