A pair of former W.F. West classmates and teammates were selected in the 2021 MLB draft Tuesday morning. Tyson Guerrero and Brandon White, both pitchers and 2018 W.F. West alums, were each selected in the 12th round, just 10 picks apart.
Guerrero, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound, junior lefty at the University of Washington was drafted by the Kansas City Royals with the 349th overall pick. He was the first UW player chosen in the 2021 draft.
White, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound, junior righty at Washington State University was drafted by the Miami Marlins with the 359th pick. He was the third WSU player chosen in this year’s draft.
White — co-MVP of The Chronicle’s All-Area baseball team — was drafted in the 14th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, following a senior high school season in which he went 7-2 with a 0.34 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 55 innings.
Guerrero, the other All-Area co-MVP in 2018, headed to Pullman to play for the Washington State University Cougars after being named Evergreen 2A Conference MVP for the second straight season. As a senior, he was 7-0 on the mound with a 1.17 ERA and hit .429. He culminated his career by no-hitting West Valley in the third-place game at the state tournament.
White turned down the offer from the Dodgers to join Guerrero at WSU for their freshman seasons of college.
White went 2-8 his freshman year, recording a 6.52 ERA in 58 innings. But his 49 strikeouts were fifth-most in single-season WSU history by a freshman.
Guerrero appeared in a dozen games his freshman year, posting a sub-3.00 ERA and hitting just under .300 as a two-way standout for the Cougars.
Guerrero transferred to Lower Columbia College during a shortened COVID-19 season, where he posted a 1.80 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 10 innings. He then accepted a scholarship from the University of Washington.
Guerrero was tabbed as the No. 1 starter for the Huskies his redshirt sophomore year and led the Huskies with a 2.96 ERA in 11 starts, which was third-best among qualified Pac-12 pitchers.
On Feb. 26, 2021, Guerrero was fielding a bunt and had a slight tear in his MCL on his left leg. He returned as the No. 2 pitcher in the rotation and finished with 50 strikeouts and a 3-3 record in 54.1 innings.
White, meanwhile, saw limited playing time as a sophomore for the Cougars, going 0-0 with nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
In 2021, White took over the No. 1 starter role for the Cougars, finishing his junior campaign with a team-high six wins, which was tied for seventh most in the Pac-12 Conference. He struck out 61 batters in 68.2 innings with a 4.98 ERA.
In his three seasons with the Cougars, White has made 29 starts, tallying eight wins and 119 strikeouts in 131.1 innings. He worked six-plus innings in 11 of his 13 career starts.
