Will Bednar will give his older brother, David, this much:

When asked which of the two former Mars pitchers will be the first to reach 100 mph on the radar gun, Will said, Probably him. Hes been closer.

Indeed, David has thrown a 99.6 mph fastball this season as a relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Will said hes topped out at 98 after two seasons and a College World Series championship at Mississippi State.

Then, he added with a smile, Ill beat him to 101.

If thats so, Will Bednar likely will do it for the San Francisco Giants, the team that selected him 14th overall Sunday night in the MLB Draft. Bednar, the seventh pitcher selected, was drafted four hours after David was the winning pitcher in the Pirates 6-5 victory against the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Andy Bednar, the pitchers father and former Mars baseball coach, said David arrived home from New York in time to see his younger brother drafted.

Unbelievable said Andy of having one son earn a major-league victory on the same day the other was drafted in the first round. It all started when (David) was dealt (to the Pirates). Its been one thing after another. Im so glad he got home.

Bednars selection gives the WPIAL a first-round selection in five of the past seven years. West Alleghenys Austin Hendrick went to the Cincinnati Reds in 2020 as the 12th overall choice.

Bednars stock rose when he threw six no-hit innings in the deciding game of this years College World Series and was named its most outstanding player. Three years before that, he was a Trib 10 All-Star selection after leading Mars to the WPIAL Class 5A championship game, where his fastball was clocked at 95 mph.

Wills velocity shouldnt be a surprise. He was hitting 91 mph before his sophomore season at Mars.

Bednar, 21, compiled a 9-1 record and 3.12 ERA for the Bulldogs this season, while striking out 139 batters and allowing only 72 hits in 9213 innings. Hitters managed only a .214 batting average against him.

A 2019 Mars graduate, Bednar never redshirted at Mississippi State while developing his two best pitches an elevated four-seam fastball and a slider. He appeared in four games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but he made them count. In only 1513 innings, he struck out 23 batters, with a 1.76 ERA. Opponents hit him at a mere .161 rate.

This year, in the days after the CWS, Bednar was home in Valencia. He said he was hanging out, for the most part, with my family, and soaking it in.

He also spent some time at PNC Park, where David hangs out these days, but he also fielded many calls from major league scouts.

Chatting about the season, small stuff like that, he said.

But they also asked more pertinent questions.

They ask if I know what it takes to play at the next level and what I think I need to continue to work on, he said.

He had a ready answer.

To be able to keep a level head, I think, is the biggest part through the ups and down of a long professional season, he said.

Playing for his dad provided the type of hurdles that might make a player better.

A lot of people thought because he was my dad, hed be easy on me. But its the exact opposite, Will said. He was a lot harder on me than anyone else. It was good. He definitely pushed me.

He pushed so hard, Andys youngest son soon will become the second member of the family to cash an MLB paycheck.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Read the original here:

Giants select Mars' Will Bednar 14th overall in 1st round - TribLIVE