Cory Luebke, a grad of Maria Stein Marion Local and Ohio State, has made the Padres roster.

Great kid and family!

He was drafted three times. Pirates out of HS, and I think maybe the Rangers and then the Padres. He stuck to his guns and went to college, bypassed his second time getting drafted and stayed in college and it paid off big time as he was drafted very high by the Padres.

He spent a number of years in the minors and the last couple seasons really worked on his change up and cleaning up his mechanics a bit.

Some may know of Marion Local as a traditional football power. They have a number of state champions in recent years in DV and DVI. Cory was also the QB of one of the state teams (think they lost in teh finals).

Kudos to Mr Luebke!

He threw last year, had a start late in the year on Sunday Night Baseball if I remember correctly... good arm who could potentially make an immediate impact on the Padres success

darbypitcher22;729440 wrote:He threw last year, had a start late in the year on Sunday Night Baseball if I remember correctly... good arm who could potentially make an immediate impact on the Padres success

Ya know what, you are right I think. I was basically outta the loop from mid july through mid decembe with very limited information from the normal world!

This year he makes the opening day roster. Believe he is slated to start the season in the BP but for the most part has been a starter. Think he was drafte around the 17th round the first time, in the 20's maybe the second, and as a "sandwich" pick pretty high the final time. Forget exactly but his patience, and hard work, paid off.

It was cool....even though SD affiliates are out west they do have one in the midwest....the Ft Wayne Wizards (Tincups now). Kinda wierd but at least many people got to see him pitch. Think i saw him throw 4-5 times between in FW and Dayton.

You could tell early on (like as a frosh in HS) that this kid was gonna be good. Very good. To say he would be on the opening day roster for a MLB team? Of course everyone would hope that.......but wouldnt say I projected that way back then....just knew he was gonna be a good one.

Padres just had him up bullpen here on opening day... must hve some confidence in him

darbypitcher22;730180 wrote:Padres just had him up bullpen here on opening day... must hve some confidence in him

Watched a little bit of it to see if he woudl get it but figured in a close game they wouldnt put him in. The former AD at his HS told me that he is in the long relief role but as a lefty I dont know if that is the case. Makes sense because he was always a starter though. I dont know what other lefties the Padres have in the Pen, just seems most long relief guys tend to be righties.

Hope he gets some early action and starts out well. I was just watching that game in amazement yesterday just thinking what was going through his mind........a packed house, in st louis, on opening day. Quite a trip for a kid who grew up in a small, farming "town" where if ya hit a foul ball just right on the right day and ya can hit a pig grazing in the field nearby (someone on our team did that when we played there years ago).