The theme in Georgia this spring is that none of the top arms for the 2009 draft are at Georgia and Georgia Tech. That doesn’t mean those teams lack arms; Tech’s Zach Von Tersch will go in the single digit rounds despite an inconsistent season, sophomore Deck McGuire will be a first-rounder next year if he keeps it up, and burly righty Kevin Jacob has a chance to be an early round pick if he shows more mid-90s heat and more consistency next season. Georgia has Dean Weaver and Alex McRee throwing in the low 90s and pushing the first few rounds as well (signability pending).

But for ’09, the big arms are at Kennesaw State (as previously written here) with Chad Jenkins and Kyle Heckathorn. And the state’s pop-up guy for the year is sophomore-eligible Daniel Sarisky, who was at Division III Oglethorpe this spring. Oglethorpe’s season has ended (hey, it’s D-III), and scouts are sure to work out Sarisky individually to get a look at one of the state’s hardest throwers.

At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, Sarisky has an athletic body and quick arm; Petrels coach Dan Giordano reports he can "dunk with ease" on the basketball court. More relevant, an area scout seconded Giordano’s report that Sarisky has hit 97 mph at times with his fastball while pitching at 92-95 mph. He has both a power, mid-80s slider and a 12-to-6 curveball, showing the hand speed to spin a breaking ball with average potential. He also throws a changeup, and thankfully he dominated his level of competition, going 5-1, 2.45 in a hybrid relief/starting role, striking out 65 in 40 innings while allowing only one home run, 32 hits and 14 walks. He ranked second in D-III with 14.52 strikeouts per nine innings.

Sarisky has some things going against him, of course, missing a year after transferring from North Georgia College & State U., a Division II program. He also has had back problems that Giordano said he has "worked through . . . with steady rehab and a consistent core program."

How he works out with clubs and how clubs view the medical reports on his back likely will decide how high Sarisky is drafted, but he has enough stuff to merit strong consideration in a relatively weak college closer crop.