No baseball experience? No problem.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

With the 1,091st pick in the major-league baseball draft, the San Diego Padres selected center fielder Thomas Skipper of Sandy High School.

Huh?

"So I'm playing baseball?" a surprised Skipper asked when informed of the pick by a reporter. "I've never played baseball in my life. I'm a pole vaulter."

Skipper, the high-point scorer at the Class 4A boys track and field championships last weekend, was picked in the 37th round of the draft Wednesday afternoon.

Skipper helped Sandy win the state track and field title by winning the pole vault and 100 meters at Hayward Field last weekend. He set a meet record in the pole vault at 17 feet, 7 inches and won the 100 in 10.88 seconds before finishing second in the 200 in 21.86.

Skipper said he heard from baseball scouts who were interested in his athletic ability.

"I talked to a guy who said that I had some foot speed in the 100 and I throw the javelin OK and I was a pretty decent pole vaulter, so they thought that I had some of the credentials to make a pro baseball player," Skipper said.

Skipper has given a verbal commitment to compete in track and field at Oregon but said last week that he is still considering his college options.

Now another option has arrived, but would Skipper sign to play baseball if the Padres offered a contract?

"You caught me off guard," Skipper said. "I was just throwing the javelin with my buddy, I came back from practice and I was sleeping. I just woke up, so I haven't thought about it."

If Skipper did sign with the Padres, he could begin his baseball career in Eugene, although he would probably start at a lower level. The Emeralds are a Class A affiliate of the Padres.

"The Padres saw something in Tommy Skipper that fit in with what they are doing, they had to," said Emeralds president Bob Beban, who noted that Tommy's late brother Art worked security during Ems games in the early 1990s.

San Diego continued to stockpile college players during the final 30 rounds of the draft on Wednesday and it is likely that many of them could play for the Emeralds this summer.

San Diego's first pick on the second day of the draft was Connecticut shortstop Brett Burnham in the 21st round.

Twenty-six of the 50 players selected by San Diego in the two-day draft were right-handed pitchers. Forty-two of the players were from college, seven from high school and one was listed with no school.

"I'm excited. You look at the number of college players," Beban said. "I like the quality of schools they are from. Good baseball schools like Wake Forest, Richmond and Nebraska. I'm always optimistic, but the Padres have been terrific. They draft quality kids."

Beban hopes San Diego's top pick, pitcher Tim Stauffer of Richmond, will be with the Ems this year. Stauffer, the No. 4 overall pick, is a junior who is likely to sign but could return to college if he can't agree to terms with San Diego.

"From what I've read, Stauffer wants to play and the Padres like to start those guys with the rest of their draft class," Beban said.

The Padres have sent each of their last two first-round picks - Jake Gautreau and Khalil Greene - to Eugene. The Emeralds are not likely to get first baseman Michael Johnson, a second-round pick last year who is expected to join San Diego's long-season affiliate in Lake Elsinore.

Oregon State first baseman Levi Webber, a junior from Glide, was selected in the 26th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. Webber was drafted in the 44th round by Florida after graduating from high school in 2000.

Webber batted .292 with two home runs, two triples, six doubles and 14 RBIs for the Beavers. He was selected with the 785th pick.

Oregon State junior Ben Rowe was selected in the 24th round by the Texas Rangers.

Also drafted, in the 21st round by the Cincinnati Reds, was Oregon football signee Dennis Dixon of San Leandro, Calif. Selected as an outfielder, the 6-4, 190-pound Dixon is a quarterback in football who had been expected to delay his enrollment at Oregon until January since the Ducks signed two other prep quarterbacks.

Dixon can sign a professional baseball contract and still be eligible for college football, though he recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that baseball would be his preference.

`I'd love to play the sport all the time if someone would give me the opportunity,' Dixon said.