Shortstop

Roman Catholic's Will Dougherty, a senior shortstop, has committed to play baseball at Northeastern. He will sign a letter of intent at 2:45 p.m. Monday in the school's library. In 21 games for the Cahillites last season, Dougherty batted .391 with 19 RBIs, 16 runs, and 7 doubles. - Rick O'Brien

NEW YORK - The Houston Astros led off the second day of the baseball draft by selecting another big-time shortstop. Carlos Correa made draft history Monday night when he was the first No. 1 pick from Puerto Rico. With the initial selection of the second round on Tuesday, the Astros took slick-fielding University of Florida shortstop Nolan Fontana. Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said after picking the 17-year-old, 6-foot-4 Correa that the team expects him to play shortstop - but acknowledged that he ultimately could move to third base.

Hours before the Phillies' 10-7 exhibition win over Atlanta even started last night, Woody Woodward called Braves general manager Bobby Cox. According to Braves sources, the Phillies vice president wanted to chat about shortstops. The evening before, Woodward huddled at Fort Lauderdale Stadium with Yankees GM Lou Piniella. It's safe to guess that Bobby Meacham's name came up once or twice. And when the Phillies' lineup card was taped to the blue wall of the visitors' dugout at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium, the eighth line read: Turner, SS. The search is on. There can no longer be any doubt.

St. Augustine senior Christian Adorno has signed with Wilmington University on a baseball scholarship. Adorno, a slick-fielding shortstop, has started since his sophomore season, when he helped the Hermits to the Non-Public A state championship. Adorno batted .400 as a sophomore with 10 stolen bases. He batted .396 as a junior with 36 hits, 22 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases. Wilmington is an NCAA Division II program that competes in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. - Phil Anastasia

With spring training just four weeks away, there is no hiding the Phillies' list of needs. Their starting pitching wears a huge question mark, as the starting four collectively were 19-31 in the majors last year. And as general manager Lee Thomas volunteered yesterday at the club's annual winter luncheon, "We don't have a new shortstop yet, which I guess is the first question on everyone's mind. " Thomas' shortstop search, however, at least involves a new name. While continuing to pursue San Diego's Dickie Thon, it was learned that the Phils have been talking to Atlanta about shortstop Jeff Blauser, a highly regarded young Braves farm product who could be expendable because of veteran Andres Thomas and rookie Mark Lemke.

We are only a month into the 2011 season, but we already know what one of the Phillies' more interesting offseason story lines is going to be. Does Jimmy Rollins have a future in Philadelphia? Rollins controls his own destiny to some extent. If he plays well and the team wins a fifth straight division title - or something more - the chances he will be back increase, provided his financial demands are not too astronomical. A mediocre or poor season will make the Phillies think long and hard about what to do at shortstop, and Freddy Galvis has an opportunity to make that decision even more difficult.

Bernard A. "Bernie" Snyder, a shortstop for the old Philadelphia Athletics, died Thursday of cancer. He was 85 and lived in the Schuylkill section. Bernie Snyder played only 23 games with the Athletics, but spent some 10 years in the minors. When he left baseball in 1944, he went to work driving for Railway Express at 18th and Market streets, retiring in 1974. He made his first paycheck at age 17. He was playing baseball as a freshman at West Philadelphia High School when he was scouted during a game against Olney.

Jimmy Rollins played in his 1,500th game as a Phillie on Thursday, becoming just the 10th player in franchise history to reach the milestone. So what's next? He'll pass Granny Hamner on Saturday (provided he plays in the next two games) for ninth place. If Rollins plays in 148 games - his career average for a season - he will also pass Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones, Sherry Magee, Ed Delahanty, and Del Ennis. But he'll need a new, long contract to even come close to Mike Schmidt and his 2,404 games.

Donald E. Robertshaw, 85, of Lansdowne, a shortstop with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics in the 1920s and '30s, died Friday at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. Mr. Robertshaw, a Philadelphia native, was a star Delaware County athlete at Collingdale High School, where he was known as "Rabbit," said his daughter, Joanne S. Uhl, of Aldan. He went on to play for Mack, the Athletics' Hall of Fame owner and manager, and with such baseball legends as Babe Ruth, his daughter said.

DEREK JETER ran Monday for the first time since breaking his left ankle in October, another step toward being in the New York Yankees' lineup on Opening Day. The 38-year-old shortstop jogged on a treadmill at the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa a day before pitchers and catcher report to spring training. "I've gotten the OK to do everything," Jeter said. "It's a progression. I haven't used my legs, so I've got to get back to using them. " When asked how the running workout felt, Jeter replied "great.

1. Lakewood will host the South Atlantic League All-Star Game on June 18 and two BlueClaws will represent the home team - reliever Steven Inch and catcher Chace Numata. Inch, a 22-year-old righhanded relief pitcher from Alberta, Canada, entered the weekend 1-1 with a 3.14 ERA and seven saves in 282/3 innings. "It's pretty exciting and a great opportunity," Inch said in a phone interview. Last season he was 2-1 with a 3.74 ERA at Williamsport and said that he started throwing a sinker halfway through last year and that has contributed to his success.

THE REBUILDING of the organizational middle infield depth continued yesterday as the Phillies selected southern California high school standout J.P. Crawford with the 16th pick in the Major League Baseball draft. Crawford was widely regarded as one of the top middle infielders in the nation, a 6-3, 175-pound athlete with rare polish for a high school player. "Physically, I just think he has to fill out a little bit and grow into his body a little bit more," said Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever, who leads the organization's draft effort.

The competition to see who replaces Jimmy Rollins as the Phillies' future shortstop got a little more crowded Thursday night when the team selected J.P. Crawford of Lakewood (Calif.) High School with the 16th overall pick in the first-year player draft. It is the same high school attended by righthander Shane Watson, the Phillies' first selection in last year's draft. Freddy Galvis is the leader in the clubhouse to replace Rollins because he is already in the big-league clubhouse.

We take a break from the heavy slate of playoff action to present our rankings of the best middle infielders in Southeastern Pennsylvania baseball. Because the area is filled with solid second basemen and shortstops, we've made this a top-15 list. 1. Jim Haley, Bonner-Prendergast, senior. The smooth-fielding shortstop, ticketed for Penn State, is batting .471 with 25 runs, 25 RBIs, eight doubles, four triples, and two home runs. 2. Joe Poduslenko, Malvern Prep, senior. While helping lead the Friars to their third consecutive Inter-Ac League crown, the shortstop and Seton Hall recruit hit .381 with 54 runs and 40 RBIs.

You can argue about who the best player is in the Phillies' farm system, but there's no room for debate about who is the most exciting. That title belongs to single-A Lakewood's Roman Quinn, the 19-year-old switch-hitting shortstop from the Florida panhandle. Speed is the tool that makes Quinn so scintillating. "It is never a double off his bat," said Phillies hitting instructor Steve Henderson, who worked with Quinn last season. "I saw him hit a ball off the wall and it bounced right back to the outfielder.

Lauren Fortunato is not a fan of diving. The Agnes Irwin senior knows it's silly - she is a shortstop, after all - and her softball coaches even joke with her about it. But the Skidmore College signee is working on it, thanks to the new approach of second-year head coach Laura Stott. "In past years, practice was the same way, every day," Fortunato said. "There wasn't time to practice one thing we wanted. Now we can become more confident in the skills we need to work on. " Stott lets the girls decide what they want to individually work on for the last half hour to 45 minutes of practice.

Pale purple crocuses out front. A robin at the bird feeder. The dashboard clock finally clicked 1 hour ahead. You pick your signs of spring, I'll pick mine. For me, it's the arrival of a gaggle of baseball books, written by dedicated writers, published by courageous publishers, to be purchased by hope-springs-eternal fans. Today, a trifecta: a book about a team (the Phillies), a book about a manager (Terry Francona), a book about a player (Mike Piazza). If books were judged like beauty pageants, "The Phillies Experience" by Tyler Kepner, would win from here to Atlantic City.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS shortstop Hanley Ramirez could be sidelined for more than 2 months or maybe just 2 weeks because of an injured left thumb. "They've painted both pictures, and it's a pretty big window," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday. "We're guessing. " Ramirez was hurt diving for a ball while playing third base Tuesday night in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic. He helped the Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico, 3-0. Ramirez was set to have an MRI when he returne to the Dodgers' camp in Surprise, Ariz.

RELAX, YANKEES fans. The captain is OK. Derek Jeter was removed from New York's lineup against the Phillies on Tuesday for "precautionary" reasons because his surgically repaired left ankle feels "stiff. " He said he might be able to play Wednesday, and doesn't consider this a setback. Jeter has mild inflammation of the ankle, a precautionary MRI showed. An X-ray was negative. He was listed as day-to-day. "I'm not concerned because I was told this was going to happen," Jeter said before the test results came back.