Germantown Academy product Barr picked by Indians

John Barr is about to become the second pro in his relationship.

His girlfriend, Megan Lenczyk, plays soccer for the WPS' Atlanta Beat and, over the past 3 days, she became quite the follower of all things connected with baseball's first-year player draft.

"She was following it more than I was," said the 6-2, 190-pound Barr, a senior centerfielder for the University of Virginia and a product of Germantown Academy. "From the very beginning, even. I was telling her, 'Meg, I'm not going to get picked in the first round.' She told me, 'You never know.' "

Barr did. But yesterday, in the 39th round (No. 1,178 overall), at least he was finally tabbed by the Cleveland Indians.

"I was sitting around in the apartment, watching TV with the guys," Barr said. "We weren't watching the draft stuff. We were flipping channels, but I think a rerun of some NCAA women's softball game was on."

Bzzzzz. Barr got a text from Kevin Wilson, a personal hitting coach who has helped him going back to the 2005 season at GA.

"All it said was, 'Congrats buddy,' " Barr said. "I was texting back, 'For what?' when the phone rang. It was my girlfriend. She was all excited. 'You got picked by the Indians!' She was watching, pick by pick. She's the most dedicated person ever.

"Like I said, I wasn't sitting by the computer. I'm not having quite the same year this year that I did last year, so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I figured if I just sat there round after round, waiting to get picked, I'd just get frustrated."

The present tense, in reference to the 2011 season, still qualifies, because Virginia has a chance to play in the College World Series. Starting Saturday, the Cavaliers will host a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional, in which they will play UC Irvine.

In 59 games, Barr is hitting .293 with 14 doubles, two triples and 33 RBI. His 2010 stats show a .373 average with 11 doubles, two triples, one homer and 22 RBI.

"A number of teams talked to me before last year's draft," he said, "but I made it clear it wouldn't make sense to take me, because I wanted to come back for my last year [he now owns a degree in foreign affairs] and it would take a ton of money to change my mind.

"Our coach gives teams a 48-hour window to talk to us between the last regular-season game and the start of the ACC Tournament. I heard from a few teams this year. I just spoke to the Indians' guy a while ago and gave him some basic info. We won't talk contract until our season is finished. That I'm going to get a crack at pro ball; fun to think about."