Perhaps this was not unexpected, but a year after WVU matched a school record and had six players drafted (and six regulars finish their senior seasons), the young Mountaineers had just two players picked this year in the Major League Baseball selection extravaganza.

This is not to say it isn’t an achievement for WVU or for the players, though. This is a program that had nobody drafted in 2012 and one player in 2011 and one in 2010 and nobody drafted from 1974-83. As for the players, Taylor Munden is quite a story. He was at a military college in 2013 and batted just .206 a year later at WVU as a starting utility player. This season, he hit .266 and led the Big 12 in home runs. He got the call in the 27th round from the Miami Marlins.

As for Blake Smith, he’s a junior and he has options and leverage after being picked in the 24th round by the Washington Nationals. He, too, was at a junior college two years ago and last season was his first at WVU. He found a hard fastball, became the team’s closer and had a team-high 20 appearances with a 4-1 record, five saves and a 3.64 ERA (and ERAs are usually exaggerated for closers). Plus, you can’t teach 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds.

He could be a pro or he cold be an all-conference candidate next season — and keep in mind his brother, Burch, was drafted twice by the Cleveland Indians in the 49th and 20th round before leaving in 2011 as a 14th round pick by the San Diego Padres.

And then there’s Connor Bennett, a strikeout pitcher who’s one of a bevy of stalwart pitchers at Georgia power Buford High. The school has two state titles, including the year’s, the past five years. He’s a 5-foot-10 starter the Mountaineers were excited about signing in November, but he was picked in the 34th round by the Cincinnati Reds.